Tenth International Conference on Sport & Society

Abstract

Recent scholarship indicates the influence of social class origins on college adjustment and the overall collegiate experience. In particular, students who are first in their family to attend an institution of higher education, are less likely to participate in academic and extra-curricular activities. The consequence of these outcomes for first-generation students is that they can have a sense of “never quite measuring up” and place limits on their “opportunity to cultivate social and cultural resources.” The intent of this paper is to explore if first-generation college athletes exhibit these patterns as well. In 2006, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) conducted a survey covering the “growth, opportunity, aspirations, and learning of students.” The study included nearly 20,000 Division I, II, and III athletes. Fortunately, the athletes were asked about the education level of their father and/or mother, so whether or not they are first-generation can be determined. The survey instrument also has dependent measures of the college experience regarding academic and extra-curricular activities. For instance, respondents were asked a series of questions ranging from how often they “participate actively in class” to working with a faculty member on a research project. Outside the classroom, the NCAA athletes answered items about their involvement in student government and attendance at concerts, plays, etc. These measures will be combined to establish scales of academic and extra-curricular activities. Statistical analysis of the independent, dependent, and select control variables will then be conducted to explore the first-generation effects of the college experience of athletes.