Abstract

Student-athletes competing at the university level face a unique set of stressors, pressures, and experiences. While all students will inevitably face difficulties transitioning from high school to post-secondary education, collegiate athletes bear the burden of balancing at least two demanding public roles, student and athlete, along with other interpersonal relationships, such as friendships, familial ties, and connections with teammates and coaches. The current study examines the identity development of college student-athletes and the challenges they face as they transition into and through their involvement in higher education and intercollegiate sports. This project in particular focuses on how the gendered experiences of student-athletes affects their identity development through the lens of Identity Control Theory. The data, drawn from in-depth interviews with 19 Division 1 first-generation student-athletes, explore how student-athletes balance their multiple roles, and thus negotiate their athletic performance, academic concerns, autonomy, and potential stereotypes. It is vital to determine the best practices for first-generation student-athlete success in order to promote positive socialization and encourage college completion through an understanding of what programs can better support student-athletes as students, athletes, and individuals.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2016

Semester

Spring

Advisor

Anthony, Amanda

Degree

Master of Arts (M.A.)

College

College of Sciences

Department

Sociology

Degree Program

Applied Sociology

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0006194

URL

http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0006194

Language

English

Release Date

May 2016

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Masters Thesis (Open Access)

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Included in

Sociology Commons

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