Stereotyped perceptions of student-athletes' career choices

Abstract

In this study, definitions found in, and outside of research, for the term, "studentathlete" were examined. Key themes within these definitions were identified and synthesized into one definition. This synthesis was conducted due to there not being an agreed upon definition for the term, "student-athlete" within the literature. This synthesized definition could be used as the standard definition for research on studentathletes, helping to reduce confusion due to varying methodology used within the field.The intent of this study was also to examine peoples' perceptions of student-athletes, and how those perceptions impacted what jobs they felt were appropriate for student-athletes.Participants completed a forced-choice card sorting task in which they evenly sorted job titles into four categories: Male Student-Athlete, Female Student-Athlete, Male Non-Athlete Student, and Female Non-Athlete Student. Participants also completed a brief written exercise describing who comes to mind when presented with the term, "student-athlete".Chi-Square and repeated measures ANOVA analyses revealed that participants did make meaningful distinctions between the groups when assigning job titles, with differences found in: Gender Traditionality, Prestige Scores, and Holland Type Scores of job titles assigned to each group. Written responses revealed that participants were largely viewing male student-athletes as Black, and female student-athletes as White, with differences in perceptions of intelligence, major choice, and character found between the groups. The information from this study may be useful to examine the role race plays in peoples' differing perceptions of student-athletes. CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTIONStudent-athletes make up a relatively small subset of college students on U.S. campuses; there are 492,000 student-athletes within the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) three divisions (NCAA, 2018). In comparison, there are around 19.4 million non-athlete students. (Snyder, 2018). Even though they make up a small number of students, they often receive significant attention and responsibility to represent their respective universities/colleges. This can be seen with media attention (Adler & Adler 1985), special backpacks with name tags, personalized gear, etc. This heightened attention towards student-athletes can also be seen in recent research trends. Research on student-athletes has increased in recent years with studies on: career planning attitudes (Tyrance, Harris, & Post, 2013), motivation and stress (Parker, Perry, Chipperfield, Hamm, Hladkyi, & Leboe-McGowan, 2018), stigma and help seeking (Wahto, Swift, & Whipple, 2016), and topics as specific as energy drink consumption and nutrition knowledge (Hardy, Kliemann, Evansen, & Brand, 2017). Although each of these studies offer interesting and logical hypotheses and compelling implications, they also all use the term "student-athlete" differently. The similarities of these studies quickly dissipate into ambiguity and confusion due to varying sophistication in...

Race, sex, and perceptions of student-athletes’ career options

“…It is important to first address the foundational limitations brought forth by and Barker (2020). Anderson improved upon the limitations she highlighted by creating a reliable and valid taxonomy of stereotypes of studentathletes.…”

“…The current study will utilize this taxonomy of student-athlete stereotypes and expand upon it by examining how the intersection of race and sex impacts people's perceptions. Barker (2020) highlighted a crucial limitation in student-athlete research, being that there is no agreed upon definition of the term "student-athlete." For instance, Stone, Harrison, and Mottley (2012) write that the term "student-athlete" or "scholar-athlete"…”

“…However, Shulman and Bowen (2001) may not consider them a student-athlete because they did not letter in their sport due to not being able to meet certain requirements, such as number of games played. Barker's (2020) synthesized definition of the term "student-athlete" will be used in the current study.…”

“…Recently, researchers have called into question the methodological sophistication and soundness of student-athlete research Barker 2020). First, Anderson commented that many measures used with student-athletes were created using ad hoc measures instead of sound methodology.…”

“…She sought to improve upon this limitation by creating a reliable and valid taxonomy of stereotypes of student-athletes. Barker (2020) also highlighted limitations in the methodological soundness of student-athlete research. He posited that there is not an agreed-upon definition of the term "studentathlete," claiming that without this foundation in place, it is difficult to build upon each other's research.…”