Serving two masters: The plight of the college student‐athlete

Abstract

Extensive demands placed on student‐athletes can be exhausting. Busy travel schedules, lost study time, and class absences, as well as emotional and physical stress, can place a heavy burden on this student group.

Beyond ws and ls: Evaluating intercollegiate athletics programs

“…The goals of most institutions with respect to student-athletes are similar: to keep them eligible; to ensure that they receive a proper education, do well academically, and graduate in impressive numbers; and to help them develop socially, academically, and athletically. The plight of the student-athlete in meeting these goals is well-documented (Rhatigan, 1984;Purdy, Eitzen, and Hufnagel, 1982;Whitner and Myers, 1986). Consider a typical basketball player.…”

“…Consider a typical basketball player. Away games force him to miss 15-20 percent of his classes, yet he is expected to meet the independent demands of athletic and academic responsibilities while coping with the pressures of public performance (Rhatigan, 1984).…”

Applying the AISP model to the college student‐athlete

“…He or she is often seen as pampered, with every transgression excused or covered up. There is another view (Rhatigan, 1984) that suggests nearly the opposite idea, that the system of higher education often treats these men and women roughly. The campus intervention team can work to reduce stereotypes and to reevaluate campus rules and procedures that hurt student-athletes.…”

Perceptions of residence hall living environment by resident assistants and student-athletes and the relationship of perceptions to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

“…According to West (Shirberg and Brodzinski, 1984), contradictions in the role of being female which equated to femininity and being a student-athlete which may have some non-feminine characteristics, may lead some women athletes to over-compensation in feminine behaviors and/or with drawal of participation in social events. As Rhatigan (1984) points out in a review of student-athlete basketball players' time commitment to the sport, there are few situations in which the students are required to miss 26% of class-time in order to participate in an extracurricular activity.…”