Abstract
A limited number of studies focus on African Americans playing the game of golf. Within the Professional Golfers’ Association of America, African American males make up less than a half of a percent of PGA Members. This paper investigates various barriers impacting African American male PGA members. Understanding racial marginalization in an elite-level sport may help draft new practices, policies and behaviors within the golf industry. We used semi-structured interviews (Creswell, 2013) to determine barriers of the participants’ earning membership in the Professional Golfers Association of America. Interviews were conducted with 25 African American male PGA Members. Snowball sampling was utilized to identify and invite study participants (N=25) (Patton, 2002). All participants were male PGA Members that self-identified as African American. When data analysis began, the researchers followed Creswell’s (2009) six steps of data analysis. For consistency in the analysis only one researcher conducted the interviews and coded 100% of the data and another researcher coded 50% of the data. The inter-rater reliability score was 91%. Results are still in progress, but initial findings show that participants expressed their concerns for the current path the PGA regarding diversity and inclusion. Data described African American PGA members experience racial discrimination in the form of lack of employment opportunities. Racial inequality limits types of jobs for African Americans as PGA members. In addition, study findings demonstrate the racial discrimination that exists for African American male PGA members.
Presenters
Christopher ProsserStudent, Ph.D., University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Maryland, United States James Heimdal James Heimdal
Chair, Associate Professor, Human Performance & Sport Sciences, Tennessee State University, Tennessee, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Sporting Cultures and Identities
KEYWORDS
Racial Inequality, Golf, PGA
