African American student athletes’ perceptions of

career transition in sport: A qualitative and visual elicitation

C. Keith Harrison, Ed.D.

University of Michigan


Suzanne Malia Lawrence, Ph.D.

Coker College

 

 

C. Keith Harrison, Ed.D.

Assistant Professor

The University of Michigan

Division of Kinesiology

Department of Sports Management and Communication

Director, The Paul Robeson Research Center for Academic and Athletic Prowess

 

401 Washtenaw Ave.

Ann Arbor, Michigan

48109-2214

(734) 763-9574 office

(734) 936-1925 fax

ckharris@umich.edu

 

Suzanne Malia Lawrence, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Coker College

 

 

 

Note: Both authors contributed equally.

 

This paper has been accepted at Race Ethnicity and Education.

Key terms and concepts: Student athletes, career transition, career development theories,  African Americans, predominantly white institutions, and life after sports.

C. Keith Harrison is a faculty member at the University of Michigan in the Division of Kinesiology in the Department of Sports Management and Communication.  Harrison studies race relations, sport and higher education and the effects of media images on African American male student athlete career aspirations and desires.  Harrison is founder and director of the Paul Robeson Research Center for Academic and Athletic Prowess.

 

Suzanne Malia Lawrence is a faculty member at Coker College in the Physical Education and Sport Studies Department.  Lawrence focuses her research on social justice issues in sport, career transition of athletes, and the experiences of African American athletes.  Lawrence implemented a sport psychology concentration at Coker, which is unique to the southeast region on the undergraduate level.


Acknowledgments

Thanks to all the Division II student athletes in the study. Also, to the entire faculty, staff, coaches, and administrators at the selected southeastern university, your support is most appreciated. This study was also supported by the University of Michigan and the following organizations and individuals: Dr. Lester Monts, Vice-Provost for Academic Affairs, the Division of Kinesiology, Department of Sports Management and the Paul Robeson Research Center for Academic and Athletic Prowess laboratory team.

 

 

ABSTRACT

 

This study focuses on 26 African American athletes and explores their perceptions of athletic career transition. Participants consisted of student athletes from a United States National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division IIA institution in the Southeastern region.  Participants completed the Life After Sports Scale (LASS), a 58-item inventory utilized to qualitatively and quantitatively examine seven different domains, which influence perceptions of the career transition process.  The scope of this inquiry examines the qualitative domain of the LASS in which participants were visually primed with a narrative description of a student athlete that has made transition out of sport successfully. Five major themes emerged from the African American student athletes’ perceptions of the career transition process: Inspirational Imagery Validation, Academic and Athletic Success, Classroom Accomplishments, Family Devotion, and Life After Sports.   These themes are discussed in relation to relevant career development theories, athletic identity theory from the sport psychology literature, and applicable race and racial theories to sport in higher education.  Future research directions and limitations are articulated.

 

INTRODUCTION

In 1998, the Journal of Vocational Behavior featured scholarship examining the themes of work salience, career maturity, and ethnic identity development of African Americans and other people of color (Naidoo, Bowman, & Gerstein, 1998; Perron, Vondracek, Skorikov, Tremblay & Corbiere, 1998). One place to examine these topics entails the career development perceptions of African American student-athletes in the United States. Sport in American higher education is consumed by alumni, the public, and students enrolled at the same institutions. Acknowledging that sport is popular and important, the recruitment of African Americans as key players in competitive athletics has been common practice since segregation and integration. This recruitment process is to institutions that are historically elite, Eurocentric at both the enrollment and curriculum levels, and at times overtly racist (Davis, 1999).  To complicate matters, intercollegiate athletics are governed by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), a non-profit organization that profits from athletic earnings and other related profits.

For the African American student athlete at predominantly white institutions, visibility is high in men’s football and basketball, and women’s basketball and track and field (Sellers, 2000).  In fact, 1 out of 9 African American students on predominantly white campuses is a student athlete on athletic scholarship, compared to 1 out of 50 White American students on athletic scholarship. This skewed representation may lead to African American student athletes’ perceptions that their life chances in sport are lucrative, as well as their aspirations toward educational opportunities and career options may be distorted. This marginal academic representation on campus juxtaposed with the “African American gladiator” (Edwards, 2000) may lead to skewed perceptions Davis (1999) explains,

 

Pick up most American sports dailies, and along with last night’s scores, player transcripts and racing results, are page after page of the black athlete in pictures, rich, superrich, bald-headed, super bald-headed. The downside of such visceral overflow is that it creates a false sense of equity about the American workplace (p. 889).

 

The crucial point of this "visceral overflow" is that participants and observers of college sport in American higher education often are apathetic and oblivious to the reality that only 1.6% of college student athletes will move on to the next level of professional sports (Edwards, 2000; Lapchick, 2001). The reality is that the intercollegiate athletic experience will finalize most student athletes competitive sport careers.

The current study examines African American student athlete responses to a visual narrative of a student athlete that has made the transition out of sport successfully. The collegiate athlete’s process of exiting from athletic involvement can be viewed from several theoretical frameworks. The relationship between athletic identity and sport career transitions that has been identified by Petitpas, Brewer, and Van Relate (1996) lends itself to the current study.  The career development theory holds relevance to this inquiry as well.

 

Racial/Athletic Identity in Sport

 

             The limited research, which has explored college student athlete transitions, has focused mainly on adjustment to exiting intercollegiate sport (Baillie, 1992; Blinde & Stratta, 1992; Greendorfer & Blinde, 1985; Hallinan & Snyder, 1987; Hinitz, 1988; Kleiber & Brock, 1992; Caliber, Greendorfer, Blinde, & Samadahl, 1987; Snyder & Baber, 1979).  Most researchers have quantitatively examined athletic identity and its relationship to career transition (Brewer, Van Raalte, & Petitpas, 2000; Good, Brewer, Petitpas, Van Raalte, & Mahar, 1993; Petitpas, Brewer, & Van Raalte 1996). 

Brewer, Van Raalte, and Petitpas (2000) claimed that sport career transitions could affect patterns of self-identification.  Authors suggested further inquiry as to how individual differences variables (i.e., gender, age, race/ethnicity, personality) affect the relationship between athletic identity and sport career transitions. Good, Brewer, Petitpas, Van Raalte, and Mahar (1993) suggested that student athletes possibly commit to the role of  “athlete” and fail to investigate other identities. This paradigm can magnify the career transition issues in regards to African American student athletes, especially ones that are in highly visible sports such as football, basketball, and track and field.  Brown, Glastetter-Fender, and Shelton (2000) found that extensive hours in athletics, failure to examine different roles, and the belief that one’s career is unaffected by one’s actions are associated with lower self efficacy for career decision making. For individuals who possess athletic identities, sports are a highly valued commodity and time invested endeavor.  There is a paucity of research that explores the issue of career transition qualitatively (Harrison & Lawrence, in review; Parker, 1994). There is also a dearth of systematic investigation between race/ethnicity and athletic identity (Brewer, Van Raalte, & Petitpas, 2000), and there is a call to delve deeper into individual, environmental, and social differences (Petitpas, Brewer, & Van Raalte, 1996). 

 

Career Development Theory

 

            Most of the career development literature has examined monolithic populations and centered on white males from middle and upper class backgrounds (Parham & Austin, 1994). In terms of the career transition of student athletes in higher education, few studies have focused specifically on race, and even fewer have utilized a qualitative or visual design.  There has  been a shift in the career development literature to address career maturity, race, social class, and racial identity. 

According to Lundberg, Osborne, and Miner (1997) career maturity is the readiness to make appropriate career decisions.  Bicultural competence, or the reconciliation of the values of one’s culture with the dominant culture explains career development patterns (Leong, 1995; Peavy, 1995).  The complex interaction of these factors affects individuals’ readiness to succeed in mastering the tasks appropriate to various stages of career development (Kerka, 1998).  If it holds true that “career maturity” is influenced by age, race, ethnicity, locus of control, social economic status, work salience and gender (Kerka, 1998; Naidoo, 1998), how might these independent variables be contextualized and applied to “career maturity outside of athletics?”  There is no simple answer to this question however, the more research studies that are conducted which explore these specific factors in regards to career maturity the more effective support system personnel can be in guiding young people in the career transition and acquisition phases.

Evans and Kerr (1994) have suggested the following for teachers and counselors working African American students:

 

Professionals who teach, counsel, and advise African American students in their career planning are challenged to address a constellation of problems that relate to perceptions of discrimination and self-imposed boundaries in career aspirations. Unfortunately, these problems have not been addressed or even clearly defined and they have been given virtually no research attention. Future research into the reasons why African American youth continue to choose traditional careers might include the influence of African American role models, cultural and social expectations of family and community (i.e., paying dues or giving back to the community), or the lack of familiarity with alternative careers (p. 182).

 

Parham and Austin (1994) articulate the importance of racial identity research in terms of career and vocational aspirations by African Americans by stating that "People's views of themselves and the world of work are projected onto occupational titles, and in that manner who and what they are affects their career choice" (p. 143).  An integral part of whom and what African American young people are about may be found in their perceptions and thoughts concerning their career.

 

Critical Race Theory:  Academic & Athletic Roles

 

Critical Race Theory (CRT) has three major tenets (Wing, 1997): First, racism is an ordinary and fundamental part of American society; second, a culture constructs its own social reality in its own self-interest (CRT’s critique of society thus often takes the form of storytelling and narrative analysis—to construct alternative social realities and protest against acquiescence to unfair arrangements designed for the benefits of others); and three, CRT holds that white elites will tolerate or encourage racial progress for minorities only if doing so also promotes white self-interest. These tenets are contrary to some of the scholarship that asserts that racism has ended and is primarily a cultural phenomenon (D’Souza, 1995). Applied to U.S. athletics, CRT exposes that racism and sport in higher education are a natural outcome of the traditionally white academic institution. Also, CRT validates the necessity and salience of real-life personal narratives and social identity expressions.  Further, CRT applied to the recruitment of athletically talented African Americans serves the institutional goals of U.S. campuses and their minimal support for minority student access. At the macro and micro level, the African American student and student-athlete is an issue of retention, which includes addressing the constructs of race and culture. As Person & LeNoir (1997) indicate:

 

Retention programs should introduce the student athlete to the academic culture of the college, with all the expectations that will be required of her/him for success, before s/he is challenged by the rigors of the athletic program and introduced to the student athlete culture. This requires a marked level of sensitivity to race and cultural issues for all involved (p. 89).

 

For purposes of the present study, African American student athletes should not only be introduced to the academic culture of their college or university, but these expectations of intellectual life should be cultivated as lifelong attributes that transfer to aspects outside of athletic participation. According to Snyder (1985) “success experiences in sport may lead to a heightened sense of self-worth that spill over into academic achievement and via athletic participation, personal qualities emphasizing hard work, success, and achievement are taught that spill over into the academic realm” (pp. 210-211).

These points are simplified aspects of role identity theory (McCall & Simmons, 1978) developed by Snyder (1985) and applicable to the present paper examining race, career transition and African American student athletes, “role identity is defined as one’s imaginative view of himself as he likes to think of himself being and acting as an occupant of that position” (p. 212). Furthermore, Snyder (1985) summarizes this tension between academic and athletic roles may develop because of improper academic preparation or “a peer group subculture that does not reward educational achievement—this may be particularly true for minority students whose subculture accords a high priority to the athletic role but places less emphasis or perhaps stigmatizes the student role” (p. 213). Based on this synthesis of racial and cultural dynamics (or lack thereof) of student athletes, in particular African American student athletes, the present study chronicles narratives of contemporary African American student athletes after viewing a positive role identity salient to academic and athletic prowess. The specifics of the present study will be articulated in the paragraphs that follow. 

 

Purpose of the Study

 

The present study qualitatively investigates 26 African American collegiate student athletes’ perceptions of athletic career transition. Specifically, this study utilized the Life After Sports Scale (LASS), a 58 -item inventory to examine seven different domains that influence perceptions of the career transition process through the use of visual elicitation and a mixed design approach.  The seven domains are as follows: 1) open-ended and visual narrative; 2) career transition; 3) athletics; 4) academics; 5) social; 6) sentence completion; and 7) background information.  The LASS (Harrison & Lawrence, 2002) was developed based on relevant literature (Brown, Glastetter-Fender, & Shelton, 2000; Brewer, Van Raalte, & Petitpas, 2000) and previous instruments that investigated athletic identity issues in sport psychology and sport sociology.

The scope of this inquiry explored the qualitative domain (first domain) of the LASS in which participants were elicited with a visual and narrative representation of a student athlete’s transition process (student athlete profile: Fig. 1.1 located in methodology section).  The purpose was to examine the perceptions of African American collegiate student athletes in regards to the career transition process.  The student athlete profile of Will Brooks gives participants both an academic and athletic strategy in the process. The profile was utilized to elicit thoughts and perceptions and to excavate the process. Harrison and Lampman (2001) claim that African American male student athletes, especially in revenue-generating sports need to be validated in pursuits exclusive of athletic participation. One way to validate this population is to visually construct and expose their psyches to successful African American male student athletes (Harrison & Lawrence, in review).

The central research questions this study examines are as follows: a) Are African American student athletes able to self reflect and relate to the image of a successful career transition by a former African American student athlete? b)  Do African American student athletes spend time realistically planning and preparing for their lives after sport? c) What were the primary thoughts experienced by the student athletes after viewing and reading the career transition profile?

 

METHODOLOGY

 

Qualitative analysis involves an immersion in the details and specifics of the data to discover important categories, dimensions, and interrelationships.  Such an exploration begins by asking genuinely open questions rather than by testing theoretically derived hypotheses (Patton, 1990, p. 40).  The current study utilized the qualitative approach along with visual elicitation.  Visual elicitation is a technique of interviewing in which photographs are used to stimulate and guide a discussion between the interviewer and the researcher(s) (Snyder & Kane, 1990). This method has been exhausted by anthropologists but has been used little by sport science researchers (Curry, 1986). 

Acknowledging the salience of cultural artifacts and images in sport, the use of photographs is pertinent to study the attitudes and meanings people associate with sports (Gonzalez & Jackson, 2001).  Johnson, Hallinan, and Westerfield’s (1999) study titled,  Picturing success: Photographs and stereotyping in men’s collegiate basketball, built on two previous studies, one conducted by Snyder and Kane (1990) who explained, “Photographs may be used as a research tool to evoke thoughts, reactions, and feelings from individuals about some aspect of social life” (p. 256). Also, Cauthen, Robinson, and Krauss (1971) claimed, “The use of pictures is the best because it allows the most latitude in determining the content of the stereotype” (p. 105). One unintended outcome of photo-elicitation interview is a vehicle to build trust between the interviewer and respondent.  The stimulus of a successful African American student athlete in the current research design may tap hidden emotions that would otherwise be missed (Curry, 1986).

 

Participants

 

            Participants consisted of 26 Division II (N=26) African American student athletes from a southeastern Division IIA  NCAA institution.  There were 15 males (n=15) and 11 females (n=11) ranging in age from 18 to 23. Participants came from seven different sports: men’s/women’s basketball, men’s golf, men’s soccer, men’s tennis, baseball, and softball.  Five of the participants were the first in their families to attend college.  Participants reported their families social economic status, the following reports the number of participants in each class: Upper SES= 2, Middle SES= 17, and Lower=  6 (one participant failed to report).  Additional demographic information can be viewed in Table 1.  Division II student athletes are typically athletes who were not sought after to play big time collegiate sport (i.e. Div. I). These participants still have professional aspirations and many of them are aware of their slim chances to compete professionally.

 

Procedure

 

            Participants contributed to this investigation on a voluntary basis. Each participant received a six-course dinner worth $15.00 as part of his or her incentive fees for participating in the study.  Initially, participants were informed of their rights to confidentiality by reading and signing the consent form.  In the first domain of the LASS, participants had five minutes to read the student athlete profile (See Appendix for Figure 1.1).  Then, they were instructed to write in response to the profile for seven minutes.  Finally, participants were instructed to complete the additional 57 items of the LASS.

 

Life After Sports Scale

 

This scale was developed based on relevant literature and previous instruments that investigated athletic identity issues in sport psychology and sport sociology.  Participants completed the Life After Sports Scale (LASS), a 58-item inventory utilized to examine seven different domains, which influence perceptions of the career transition process.  The seven domains are as follows: 1) open-ended and visual narrative; 2) career transition; 3) athletics; 4) academics; 5) social; 6) sentence completion; and 7) background information.  The scope of the current study encompasses the first domain in which participants were elicited with a visual and narrative representation of a student athlete’s transition process. A pilot study was conducted with ten student athletes to gather feedback for the visual stimulus used in the study (See Figure 1.1). All participants in the pilot study agreed that the image was appropriate for the population in the study and all responded with informative narratives.  Participants were asked to respond to the student athlete profile by relating it to their own lives as student athletes.  Additionally, they were directed to offer their thoughts and feelings in response to reading the profile (See Figure 1.1). The reliability and validity for the other 57 items are not the focus of the current study and thus will not be articulated for this research paper.

 

Data Analysis

 

According to Flick (1998), “Narrative analyses start from a specific form of sequentiality” (p. 204).  Participants were presented with a visual elicitation and student athlete profile (See Figure 1.1) and instructed to offer an open-ended response to the profile.  After the written responses to the profile were collected, they were transcribed into a hard copy (text) for data analysis.  An investigative team, which consisted of four individuals trained in qualitative research methodology two of which were the primary researchers, was utilized throughout the data analysis process.

Hierarchical content analysis, as suggested by Patton (1990), was effectively utilized in the analysis.  Following transcription, each investigator read each of the participants’ transcripts in order to get a sense of the student athletes’ experiences.  Each investigator independently identified raw-data themes that characterized each participant’s responses.   Raw-data themes are quotes that capture a concept provided by the participant.  Then, the investigative team met to begin discussing the transcripts.  The primary purpose of this meeting was to interpret and identify major themes.  Raw data themes were utilized in conducting an inductive analysis in order to identify common themes or patterns of greater generality.  Themes were derived from all of the transcripts and attempts were made to interpret commonalties among the experiences described in each of the transcripts (Patton, 1990).  Major themes were identified across transcripts and support for each theme was located in each of the transcripts (Patton, 1990).


Figure 1.1

 

STUDENT ATHLETE PROFILE

Please write your thoughts based to his athletic, academic, and bio story.  Please relate this profile to your personal reality as a student-athlete.  You have 5 minutes to express your personal feelings about this profile.

 

 

 

 

Finally, the major themes that emerged across all transcripts were identified by the primary researchers. 

 

FINDINGS AND RESULTS

 

The following five major themes emerged which are descriptive to the student athletes’ perceptions, thoughts, and feelings concerning the visual representation of the career transition profile:  Inspirational Imagery Validation, Academic and Athletic Success, Classroom Accomplishments,  Family Devotion, and Life After Sports. All five themes involve participants’ ability to identify with the profile and relate it to their life experiences’ as student athletes.

 

Inspirational Imagery Validation

 

The first theme, Inspirational Imagery Validation, involves the student athletes’ positive feelings and self-reflective thoughts in response to the successful transition made by the student athlete. This theme describes athletes’ recognition and value of hard work in the career transition process.  It also depicts the inspiring feelings that athletes experience in regards to making the transition, consider this example from a participant:

 

It was very inspiring to see how someone can over-achieve both on and off the field.  His accomplishment foremost in the classroom is quite impressive.  Furthermore, to see how well he has continued his success in a career and as a family man.  He is an inspiration to us all! (070).

 

A participant acknowledges the importance of working hard toward goals.

 

It sounds like he set goals and worked hard both on the field and in the class.  Everybody can’t have a 4.0 but if you work hard you can achieve your goals. His profile is simply saying work hard and enjoy your life (072).

 

Another aspiring student athlete compares herself to Brooks.

I’m pleased to see that James Brooks has done well for himself.  I believe that I myself might one day become a great athlete (020).

 

African American student athletes are often bombarded with inspiring images of athletes at the collegiate and professional levels in popular print and mass media. These messages are not ideologically focused on the academic representation of the athlete depicted. It appears that the stimulus in the present study resonated with some of the participants. 

 

Academic and Athletic Success

 

The second theme, Academic and Athletic Success  describes participants looking to the student athlete in the profile as a role model and also using him as a motivator.  Participants expressed the significance of both academic and athletic excellence.  Participants also experienced self reflection in response to the profile.  One student athlete recognized both academic and athletic achievements made by Brooks,

 

I think it’s great to read about such great achievements especially from an African-American student athlete.  This shows that an athlete had to express his talent in the classroom as well as on his or her field of competition. His profile somewhat correlates with my student profile academically.  It’s also great to hear that he loves to spend time with his family and is successful in his work environment (035).

 

Another participant related the profile to himself or herself,

 

Brooks has proven that he had dedicated his life to succeeding.  As an athlete he tried to reach and overcome each task that was put in front of him.  In academics, he made sure that he graduated with honors so he has no excuse of getting the best jobs.  With his family he made sure he changed everything for the positive. Just like Brooks I to am working on being the best I can be in anything I put my mind to (057).

 

This participant realized the hard work put forth both on the field and in the classroom,

 

This is an example of a good student athlete.  He was a hard worker on the field and in the classroom.  He, like I , feel that it is important to maintain good academic standards and to participate in clubs and organizations. It is vital to success in our future after graduation that we (student athletes) lead a well-rounded life (056).

 

Classroom Accomplishments

 

The third theme, Classroom Accomplishments depicts some of the participants’ that commended the academic excellence portrayed by the student athlete in the profile. Student athletes reported the academic emphasis that was depicted by the athlete in the profile, as this following comment illustrates:

 

Will was a good student.  He went to school to do something and he got it done.  He was really focused.  I came to college to get a degree so that’s what I ‘m going to do (061).

 

Another student athlete experienced a desire to be the type of athlete that was portrayed in the profile.

 

It was a good profile, it’s good to see athletes that can also participate in school activities and make good grades.  That’s the type of athlete I want to be.  All it takes is hard work and dedication (071).

 

Another example acknowledged a great accomplishment in the classroom.

 

James academic abilities being able to accomplish a 4.0 GPA while playing a college sport just shows that a real athlete also does well not only on the playing fields but more importantly in the classroom (044).

 

Family Devotion

 

The fourth theme of Family Devotion involves the participants being able to self reflect and identify with the necessary career transition process.  Participants recognize the importance and reality of having a family.  For example, one athlete was aware of family devotion,

 

James was also a man of family devotion.  He enjoyed being with his wife and son.  I think his family was his main choice of choosing the right career for him.  I think by reading this profile, it gives me greater pleasure to follow my dreams because with a little time and effort, anything is possible (087).

 

One particular student athlete self reflected and explained how he or she could follow in Brooks’ footsteps.

 

Overall I think James is a great man because he is one of few men who actually care about his future and takes care of home, meaning keeping his family happy as well.  With determination such as James’ one, I feel more athletes would be better off because most go to school for sports and not an education.  I feel I could follow James’ footsteps and be successful one day (044).

 

Another participant reported success in both career and family.

 

His accomplishment foremost in the classroom is quite impressive. Furthermore, to see how well he has continued his success in a career and as a family man (070).

 

Life After Sport

 

The final theme of Life After Sport involves the participants being able to self reflect and identify with the necessary career transition process.  Participants recognize the importance and reality of having to experience their exit from collegiate sport and majoring in an interesting field.  For example, one athlete was aware of “life after sports”,

 

I feel that most athletes will end up working just as James did at the end of his career.  A few will go pro but not many.  I think it is good that James stuck with his hard work ethics.  I totally believe in getting a job that fits your personality because you will enjoy what you do.  Instead of not wanting to go to work you will want to and achieve more at that.  I think it is good that he stays in shape (074).

 

Participants viewed Brooks life as an example as described by one student athlete,

His life is an example that there is life after “sports”, whether it be collegiate or professional (070).

 

Another example was described as finding a field that is enjoyable which will lead to a future job.

Will James Brooks was a prime example of how athletes should look to lead their lives.  This profile shows the importance of majoring in a field that you enjoy and reaching for a job pertaining to that area.  He was dedicated to everything he did (056).

 

DISCUSSION

 

Thousands of collegiate student athletes are faced with the process of transition due to their athletic involvement each year.  There are few systematic investigations that focus specifically on the process of transition for the collegiate athlete.  Researchers have primarily focused on the retirement from the professional/elite levels (Allison & Meyer, 1988; Baillie, 1992; Curtis & Ennis, 1988; Drahota & Eitzen, 1998; Koukouris, 1991, 1994; Lerch, 1981; Mihovilovic, 1968; Reynolds, 1981; Sinclair & Orlick, 1993; Svoboda & Vanek, 1982; Swain, 1991; Werthner & Orlick, 1986).

Irons (1999) conducted a qualitative study of ten (N=10) former African American Division I football players that were part of a larger study involving graduation rates. The purpose of his study was to assess career transition attitudes of ten African American male student athletes that had graduated with at least a bachelor’s degree.  Irons (1999) found the following five conclusions based on the semi-structured interviews:  1)  Seven out of ten participants in their current occupations are doing right now what they said they wanted to do ten years earlier in the Sellers' (1992) graduation and career aspiration inventory; 2) All ten participants believed from an identity standpoint that the transition was difficult, but degree attainment has made the transition easier; 3) All participants also believed African American males have a harder time of making the transition due to the images portrayed on television; 4) Seven out of ten participants believed their socialization as an athlete has hindered their adjustment to the workplace; and 5) All ten participants articulated if they could do it all over again that they would focus more on academic and intellectual pursuits.

Irons’ research reveals important themes that illuminate variables such as social class, post-graduate goals, imagery salience, racial and ethnic identity, role socialization, and academic preparation for a competitive job-market. Based on Irons (1999) findings, this study incorporated triangulation data that examines quantifiable demographic variables (See Table 1). Although the sample size in this study is small, some of the demographic categories indicates salience and relevancy to the themes, which emerged from the participants’ responses. The pertinent demographic findings in the present study reveal the following five facts:  a) Six out of twenty-six participants are from the suburbs, four are from a large city;  b) Sixteen out of twenty-six student athletes play basketball (women and men);  c) Fifteen of the twenty-six majors are in the social sciences;  d) Only one out of twenty-six student athletes are a walk-on; and e) Only five out of twenty-six student athletes are first generation college students.

(Table 1 about here)

The demographics of the African American participants in the present study are fairly diverse.  According to Sellers (1992), African American student athletes are often recruited from large inner-cities, typically play football and basketball, are clustered in majors in the social sciences and general studies, are usually recruited on athletic scholarship, and are the first to attend college/university in their family.  However, the demographic data are counter-stereotypical in some aspects due to previous claims and research dealing with the plight of the African American student athlete (Coakley, 2001). While the sample size for the present study is smaller for generalizing to broader contexts, Table 1 as a whole affirms Sellers’ (2000) conclusion based on a career of empirical investigation of the African American male and female student athlete he concludes:

 

Researchers must also understand that African American student-athletes are a heterogeneous group. African American student-athletes vary with regard to gender and socioeconomic differences. Analyses of these differences should not simply be parceled out, but fully investigated. They should be studied as contributors of important information. Thus, the postathletic career adjustment of African American student-athletes is a topic worthy of study, in itself, without other comparison groups to provide texture (p. 148). 

 

Based on a synthesis of previous literature and the utilization of specific theoretical frameworks, it was found that athletic identity and self-reflection are highly salient in the student athletes’ responses and perceptions.  The first central research question in this study involved whether African American student athletes are able to self reflect and relate to the image of a successful career transition by a former African American student athlete.  Most of the participants were able to self reflect in response to the profile by comparing aspects of their life to the life of the of the student athlete or by creating new aspirations in response to the successful transition.  All five major themes that emerged as findings in this study involve participants’ ability to identify with the student athlete profile and relate it to their life experiences as student athletes.  Participants’ responses involved the student athletes’ ability to relate aspects of the profile to their lives and/or commend specific characteristics or values that were evident in the student athlete’s personality.   Many of the student athletes in this study experienced a strong feeling of inspiration and recognized the strong work ethic and goal orientation that is involved in a successful career transition process.  Experiences such as these formed the basis for the theme Inspirational Imagery Validation.  Previous research on athletic identity are consistent with athletes’ experiences of inspiration. As Parham and Austin (1994) noted, “Holland’s concept of congruence and his theoretical assumption of personality—environmental matching, can be reframed in the context of African American culture and intragroup variation (p. 144). Our stimulus, Will James Brooks’ profile, connects with most of the African American student athletes when indicating that “he found a job that matches his personality and suggests that other student athletes do the same” (see Figure 1.1, last paragraph). 

Another dominant theme that emerged from participants’ responses was Academic and Athletic Success.   Participants acknowledged both the academic and athletic accomplishments of the student athlete in the profile.  They realized that excellence in both contributed to the overall well being and life of the student athlete in his transition. Much of the research on athletic identity is consistent with athletes’ recognition of the significance of being successful academically and athletically. Athletic identity is the degree to which an individual identifies with the athlete role (Brewer, Van Raalte, & Linder, 1993).  Webb, Nasco, Riley, and Headrick (1998) found that athletic identity was related to retirement difficulties but not to overall life satisfaction.  According to Brewer, Van Raalte, and Linder (1993), “Individuals who strongly commit themselves to the athlete role may be less likely to explore other career, education, and lifestyle options due to their intensive involvement in sport” (p. 241).  The participants of this study seem to acknowledge the importance of education and other extracurricular activities.  Student athletes clearly have expressed a desire to excel both academically and athletically.  They have also been amazed by great accomplishments as expressed by the following participant,

 

My thoughts from the profile was very interesting.  It was amazing how this man was an athlete and he accomplished all these goals and different tasks. He not only made good grades but he also took care of things on the football field.  It shows a lot of what he wanted to accomplish (060).

 

According to sport sociologist Harry Edwards (1989), it is important for student athletes to receive support in both areas of academics and athletics so that they fail to identify with the athlete only role.   In a previous study Harrison and Lawrence (in review) found that African Americans were less likely than Whites to report that their professors encouraged them to take academics seriously (t=2.97, p<.01).  Researchers have found that African American student athletes have lower graduation and retention rates than White student athletes (Sellers, 2000; Sack & Staurowsky, 1998) This is a great example of role models having an influence on the career decision process.   Student-athlete support system personnel, coaches, and professors need to encourage all student athletes to develop their identities in both areas academics and athletics.

The theme of  Classroom Accomplishments  emerged because participants indicated the significance of education and receiving a college degree. For these participants academics seemed to have been their primary concern, as the quotes in the results section support.  Student athletes also experienced a reality check as the following participant explained,

 

I believe that my brains will outlast my physical capabilities one day.  I love sports but I’m realistic. He has a great life and I’m happy for him (020).

 

African American participants are beginning to realize the reality of their lives as collegiate student athletes.  A few of the African American participants in this study understand that their intellectual capacity is longer lasting than their physical capabilities.  This exact understanding is an integral part of developing career maturity in these individuals.  Career maturity is measured by one’s preparedness to make decisions concerning his/her career.  According to Naidoo (1998), career maturity is influenced by ethnic identity.  Perron et al. (1998) suggested that increased ethnic identity may lead to greater awareness of potential barriers and thus lower career maturity.  At times these barriers can cause frustration and lack of hope for success.  Some African Americans feel the need to acculturate to find opportunities for success and some simply follow the cultural values that they grew up with.  Acculturate, meaning adopt the mainstream White dominant cultural values.  The degree of acculturation or the extent to which individuals adopt dominant cultural values may determine the fit of career choice and career aspirations (Carter & Cook, 1992).  Ultimately, opportunity can be the key to success for anyone however, because of minority status, increased ethnic identity, and low career maturity sometimes African American individuals may have more obstacles to fight through in order to receive an opportunity.  One participant explains,

 

I feel that he was a great athlete and student (based on what I read).  With my personal reality, I know that great athletes are walking the streets everyday.  It’s all about opportunity.  Many great athletes never make it to the top.  To me, it was like reading a fairy tale almost.  There are a lot of Wills where I came from, they just never got a chance (050).

 

Student athletes recognize the importance of exiting from collegiate sport as expressed in the theme of  Life After Sports. The second research question addressed in the current study was whether African American student athletes spend time planning and preparing for life after sport.  The major themes of Inspirational Imagery Validation and Life After Sports demonstrates that student athletes are becoming stimulated to start making plans for their lives after sport.  Student athletes are becoming aware of “life after sports” (Irons, 1999).  Participants were inspired by the student athlete in the profile and they also expressed some of their own aspirations in response to reading the profile.  Some of the student athletes in this study have engaged in transition realization, which is evident when they speak of  “life after sports” and possible jobs. 

The initial stages of coping to transition involve being aware and recognition that the exit out of sport is in inevitable.  A vital aspect to the transition process is how student athletes cope with it, which is strongly influenced by their personalities.  An athlete’s identity can directly affect how he or she copes with the transition.  And for African American student athletes their racial identity can affect how they view their options in life.  As mentioned earlier, specific sports appear to be salient for African Americans and one of the methods in which they can acculturate in mainstream settings is through sport.  Many African American student athletes have not been in an environment to constructively think about their identity irrespective of recognizing their sport.  As demonstrated by the quotes in the results section on Life After Sport, this qualitative inquiry challenged African American student athletes to begin thinking about their life after sport. The act of contemplating their life without sport is a vital component in the career transition process for African American athletes.  

Family Devotion was a vital theme that emerged for the African American participants in the current study.  Participants not only realized the reality of having a family but the importance of it also.  They recognized the significance and difficulty of having success in both career and family. According to Naidoo et al. (1998), for some individuals the salience of the family influences career behavior. Different cultures have different conceptions of the family, gender roles, and family-work relationships. In some cultures, "career" may have a collective, not an individual meaning (Carter & Cook 1992). "African Americans expressed greater salience in home and family than the work role" (Naidoo et al. 1998, p. 23).  Participants in this study expressed a concern for family and valued the institution of family.  These African American student athletes may have family considerations when contemplating their future careers. 

The third research question is as follows: What were the primary thoughts experienced by the student athletes after viewing and reading the career transition profile?

At a basic level, the visual stimulus used in this study exposes the African American student athletes to an image the counters their dominant representation in college sports.  The major themes that emerged in this study suggest that participants through self reflection are inspired by a fellow student athlete and have a desire to excel both athletically and academically.  Also, the participants’ recognition of hard work and the value of dedication to the success of their career transition process. 

It is also concluded that African American student athletes need encouragement to begin their preparation and research suggests that academic support services do not always increase graduation rates among student athletes (Coakley, 2001; Sellers & Keiper, 1998). The emergency for this support and pre-planning deals with the structural ideologies of intercollegiate sports that affect race and social class realities as stated by Sack & Staurowsky (1998):

 

Cut off from other avenues for social mobility and inspired by a pantheon of black athletic heroes, many young black Americans have dedicated their early lives to sports. It is from this talented pool of highly motivated black athletes that the college sport industry has increasingly drawn its athletic labor. Providing academic opportunities for minorities has had little to do with this pattern of recruitment (pp. 104-105). 

 

Irrespective of what social class perspective African American student athletes may arrive at the college sport environment, the quote above has been supported with the empirical evidence that African American student athletes have the lowest graduation rates (NCAA, 2001) and African American male student athletes are perceived to be inferior academically (Sailes, 1993).

The authors encourage personnel of athletic department support systems to enable African American student athletes to engage in preparation for their athletic career termination prior to graduation by acknowledging that they have already developed valuable skills for their “real world” and career experiences. One way to affirm and validate a successful African American student athlete career transition might be to engage this population with potential employers. As Mayocchi and Hanrahan (2000) state, “If employers are genuinely interested in helping athletes to transfer their skills, it is suggested that they meet individually with athletes to discuss the types of skills they believe could usefully be brought to the job” (p. 108).

 

 

LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH IMPLICATIONS

 

            The current study is not without limitations. As Fischman (2001) articulates, “The incorporation of visual culture into educational research is not an easy task, and it brings with it epistemological and methodological problems” (p. 32). One of the main limitations with image-based research is the subjectivity of the stimuli or stimulus used in the inquiry (Prosser, 1998). While race tends to be salient to women of color, using an African American female student athlete as the stimulus may elicit distinct responses and narratives related to the constructs of both gender and race. Nonetheless, images of athletic cultures, sport, and rewards for winning at the intercollegiate level are extremely salient in American culture.

The relationship of these images and how they shape the occupational outlook of student athletes, especially African American student athletes, is critical for academics to investigate. As Gerdy (1997) states:

 

We must consider the messages we send student-athletes. While we talk to student athletes about the importance of education, we are sending, through our daily actions, an entirely different message. Take, for example, the physical environment within which student-athletes spend their days. The locker room, weight room, athletic offices, study halls, and meeting rooms are decorated with trophies commemorating athletic achievements, pictures of current and ex-athletes, a ‘Wall of Fame’ decorated with pictures of former student-athletes currently in the pros—all daily reminders of athletic accomplishments (pp. 71-72).

 

Using the image of Will James Brooks, the present study challenges not only racial stereotypes of student athletes, but general “dumb jock” stigmas. Images that fuse academic and athletic role identities may challenge traditional athletic hegemony and counter the existing paradigm of athletic politics—legally, socially, and often verbally (Carrington, 2002; Gilroy, 2000).

Also, while the present study was also not based on random selection, and the student athletes selected were not across Division I, IAA, or III institutions, the authors feel that data reveal important themes and findings—especially for the dearth of qualitative research involving the nexus of vocational behavior, sport and race.

In conducting future research it will be important to attend to methodological diversity in terms of design and data analysis. As Sellers (2000) suggested, “Prospective longitudinal designs are needed before any firm conclusions regarding the causal relationship between athletic participation and career attainment can be made” (p. 142). Sellers’ points are critical for future scholars and researchers that ask questions about the career patterns and vocational behaviors of student athletes. Student athlete issues are multidimensional by the nature of the culture it exists in and requires diverse approaches of scholarly investigation from numerous disciplines. Future research should focus on women’s sport experiences in higher education and the transformation to the occupational world. This body of work can build on existing work on women and vocational behavior and intercollegiate women experiences as student athletes.

The degree of acculturation or the extent to which individuals adopt dominant cultural values (Carter & Cook, 1992), may determine the fit of traditional career development theories. This concept may be helpful when conceptualizing those counseling and mentoring the African American student athlete on predominantly white campuses. Peavy (1995) highlighted the following three points in regards to career counseling:  1) Personal and cultural identity is a critical issue; 2) The life path, and career path is unbelievably chaotic and unpredictable, especially for "transitional" individuals; and 3) The need for healing, identity authentication, and self-esteem building is so pressing that clients career and educational counseling must be part of an integrated approach which encounters the "whole" person. In the final analysis, according to Oyserman & Swim (2001), “by taking an insider’s perspective, we are better able to appreciate differences in sociocultural worldviews underlying differences in cognitive construals and the implications of these differences for the perception of prejudice. Studying stigma from an insider’s perspective helps us alter the way that we think about and study the stigmatized and prejudice more generally” (p. 3, 10). In terms of the stigmas associated with African American student athletes on predominantly white campuses in the United States, a visual elicitation of their career aspirations may be the perfect conduit for larger political and social issues in higher educational systems around the globe. Specifically, this in the spirit of CRT and any country that recruits underrepresented ethnic populations into a context where their talents are exploited for larger profits. The key for any given nation or country is to allow these same ethnic populations the freedom to express their pain and triumphs through storytelling and personal narratives.

 

 

 

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Table 1 Demographic and Background Triangulation Data Summary of African American Participants

 N =26    Note:  Transcript numbers are in results section narratives     *MD = Missing Data

Note: H.S. means the reported percentage of African Americans that attended each student athlete’s high school.

 

Age

Gen.

Sport

Major

Red-shirt

Ath. Sch.

1st gen.

College

Community

SES

H.S. / A.A. (%)

20

F

Basketball

Business

Y

Y

Y

Small city

Lower

10

20

M

Basketball

Psychology

Y

Y

N

Large Urban City

Middle

20

20

F

MD

Biological Sciences

Y

Y

N

Suburb

Middle

10

19

M

Basketball

MD

N

Y

N

Large Urban City

Lower

10

19

F

Basketball

Social Sciences

N

Y

Y

Rural Community

Middle

30

19

F

Softball

Sport Management

N

Y

N

Small City

Middle

75

19

F

Softball

Sport Management

N

N

Y

Large Urban City

Lower

30

19

F

More than one sport

Social Sciences

N

Y

N

Small Town

Lower

75

19

F

More than one sport

Business

N

Y

N

Small City

Middle

10

19

M

Basketball

Business

Y

Y

N

Suburb

Upper

10

19

M

Basketball

Technical

Y

Y

N

Small City

Middle

10

22

M

Basketball

MD

N

Y

N

Small City

Middle

75

19

M

Basketball

Sport Management

Y

Y

N

Large Urban City

Middle

75

22

M

Basketball

Sport Management

N

Y

N

Small town

Middle

100

19

F

Basketball

Sport Management

N

Y

N

Suburb

Middle

30

23

F

Basketball

Sport Management

Y

Y

N

Small town

Lower

50

20

M

Golf

Technical

Y

Y

N

Small city

Middle

100

19

F

Basketball

Sport Management

Y

Y

Y

Small town

Middle

50

19

M

Soccer

Business

N

Y

N

Suburb

Middle

30

20

F

More than one sport

Sport Management

N

Y

Y

Small city

Lower

30

18

M

Basketball

Social Sciences

N

Y

N

Suburb

Middle

30

23

M

Tennis

Social Sciences

N

Y

N

Suburb

Middle

50

23

M

Baseball

Social Sciences

Y

Y

N

Small city

Middle

75

21

M

Basketball

Social Sciences

N

Y

N

Small town

Upper

30

20

M

Basketball

Social Sciences

N

Y

N

Small town

 

10

MD

M

Basketball

MD

N

Y

N

Rural community

Middle

50