LiberalArtsOnline Volume 2, Number 3
February 2002
By Robert Horton, Byron K. Trippet Assistant Professor of Psychology and
Charles Blaich, Daniel F. Evans Associate Professor of Social Science
Wabash College
If the number of articles in alumni magazines and the Chronicle of Higher Education is any indication, James Shulman and William Bowen's book critiquing the impact of college athletics on colleges and universities, "The Game of Life," is leading many in higher education to reconsider the role of athletics at their institutions. The most surprising aspect of Shulman and Bowen's critique is that it extends to liberal arts colleges, institutions that strive to balance effectively athletics and academics.
Shulman and Bowen make a strong case that liberal arts colleges are recruiting athletes more intensely now than ever. In doing so, they argue, liberal arts colleges are bringing in students who stray, both in terms of academic focus and preparation, from the kind of education that liberal arts colleges promote. Athletes recruited to liberal arts colleges, especially those who play football and basketball, enter with lower SAT scores and earn lower GPAs than non-athletes.
Yet, Shulman & Bowen also found a number of positive post-college outcomes for athletes from liberal arts colleges. Despite lower academic performance, athletes earn higher annual salaries after college than students who don't participate in intercollegiate athletics. Furthermore, their success in pursuing postgraduate degrees surpasses what one would expect given their academic performance during college.
Unfortunately, while the data in "The Game of Life" raise important questions for liberal arts colleges, it is difficult to assess a number of the book's more serious claims because of limited data or incomplete analyses. For instance:
1) The authors conclude that athletes enjoy an "admissions advantage" that exceeds that afforded to minorities and other groups. However, this conclusion is based on data from ONE non-scholarship school.
2) Appropriate measures of variation are not given for most analyses, making conclusions about statistical significance and the role of chance variation difficult to draw.
3) The authors argue for the negative impact of an emerging "athlete culture," and they show some differences between athletes and non-athletes on attitudes and values. However, the extent to which they demonstrate the existence of a unique athletic "culture" is debatable. Further, the authors do not provide clear evidence linking these differences to athletes' and non-athletes' college and post-college outcomes.
4) Finally, the number and range of liberal arts colleges represented in the study is too small to draw general conclusions about the impact of athletic programs at liberal arts colleges.
Like any good piece of research, "The Game of Life" raises important questions regarding the role of athletics at liberal arts colleges. Exploration of these questions must now fall to those of us most interested in the liberal arts experience.
The Center of Inquiry in the Liberal Arts is initiating an investigation of (1) the impact of athletics on liberal arts colleges and (2) the impact of college on athletes (a topic left unaddressed by "The Game of Life" but one that may be of equal importance to liberal arts colleges).
If you or other members of your institution are interested in participating in this investigation, please contact Charles Blaich at blaichc@wabash.edu. Read a more detailed review of the evidence in and implications of "The Game of Life."
LiberalArtsOnline is an occasional email essay on the liberal arts, provided as a public service of the Center of Inquiry in the Liberal Arts.
--------------------------------------
The comments published in LiberalArtsOnline reflect the opinions of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the Center of Inquiry or Wabash College. Comments may be quoted or republished in full, with attribution to the author, LiberalArtsOnline, and the Center of Inquiry in the Liberal Arts.