by Paul Umbach, Research Analyst
and George Kuh, Chancellor's Professor of Higher Education and Director
Center for Postsecondary Research
Indiana University
March 2004
For such a popular and complex topic as the nature of the experiences of intercollegiate athletes, it is surprising that there is so little evidence about what student-athletes do during college and how their behavior compares to other students. Until recently we knew almost nothing about how athletes spend their time when not on the playing fields and courts.
At the Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research we are looking closely now at this issue. We have done preliminary comparisons of student-athletes and other students in terms of their involvement in educationally purposeful activities. These are behaviors that prior research studies have tied to desired outcomes of college.
Three questions are guiding our present work. First, how do the educational experiences of student-athletes compare with those of non-athletes? Second, does the level of competition, whether by National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) division or National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) membership, affect students' satisfaction, their involvement in good practices in undergraduate education, and their perceptions of the campus environment? Finally, do student-athletes differ in important ways in their college experiences depending upon their backgrounds (whether they are transfers, women, or students of color)?
Our data come from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). NSSE assesses the extent to which students engage in empirically-derived good educational practices and what they gain from their college experience (Kuh, 2001, 2003). Although NSSE does not assess student learning outcomes directly, the main content of the survey represents student behaviors that correlate highly with desirable outcomes of college. The sample for this study was 113,553 undergraduate students who completed NSSE in the spring of 2003. Almost 10% of them, 12,559, were student-athletes. Of the 395 four-year colleges and universities represented, 107 are members of NCAA Division I, 93 of NCAA Division II, 145 of NCAA Division III, and 50 are NAIA schools.
We conducted a series of analyses to explore the relationships between participating in intercollegiate athletics and student engagement, self-reported gains, perceptions of the campus environment, and satisfaction with college. In the first set of analyses we looked at whether student-athletes differed from their non- athlete peers on key measures of effective educational practices. The analytical model takes into account age, race, gender, transfer status, grades, fraternity or sorority membership, major, full-time enrollment, and parents' education as well as institutional type, athletic division, and admissions selectivity. The second set of analyses tested for differences among the student-athletes. We used the same student characteristic variables in this model, but only included athletic division and selectivity as institutional characteristics.
In general, student-athletes appear to be slightly more engaged than their peers. For example, both first-year and senior student-athletes are more likely to take part in active and collaborative activities. First-year student-athletes reported greater levels of academic challenge in areas such as the amount of reading and writing they do and the time they spend studying. They also interacted more frequently with faculty (discussing grades or assignments, talking about career plans, and working on activities other than coursework) than first-year non-athletes did. Student-athletes also were more likely to report greater gains from college than non-athletes in personal and social competencies and in general education. Further, first-year student-athletes were more likely than non-athletes to report greater gains in practical competencies.
The second set of analyses revealed that female student-athletes were more likely than their male counterparts to perceive the campus environment as supportive of their academic and social needs. They reported greater levels of academic challenge and participation in enriching experiences, such as interacting with diverse peers, performing community service, and participating in a practicum or internship. It was no surprise that Division III student-athletes reported the highest levels of academic challenge and interaction with faculty and the greatest gains in general education. Division III student-athletes and those at NAIA-member schools also viewed their campus environments as more supportive than their peers at other types of institutions.
What then of the recent suggestions that the college experience of student-athletes is qualitatively inferior to that of their non-athlete peers (Bowen & Levin, 2003)? Given the great variation in most aspects of student life, it is almost certain that some student-athletes on any given campus are short changed in non-trivial ways in terms of what they put into and get out of college. It is more likely to be the case for men and student athletes at larger institutions where arguably athletics requires a greater commitment of time, both in and out of season. Unfortunately, our data at this point do not identify the primary or secondary sports of the student-athletes. Perhaps in subsequent years, with that identification, we will find systematic differences between student-athletes in high and low profile areas, such as football and fencing. Nonetheless, our findings indicate that student-athletes are at least as engaged overall, and in some areas and at some types of institutions they are more engaged than their non-athlete peers in effective educational practices. In addition, student-athletes perceive they receive support from their campus communities.
As with students in general, the experiences of student-athletes vary between institutions and within them. For that reason, it is incumbent on colleges and universities to learn more about the experiences of their student-athletes, to determine whether they take part in educationally sound activities, and to be confident that they benefit from college at levels commensurate with their non-athlete peers. After all, we know a good deal about how student-athletes perform on the playing field and court. We should be keeping score on the quality of their educational activities everywhere else on campus too.
References
Kuh, G.D. (2001). "Assessing what really matters to student learning: Inside the National Survey of Student Engagement." *Change* 33(3), 10-17, 66.
Kuh, G.D. (2003). "What we're learning about student engagement from NSSE." *Change* 35(2), 24-32.
Pascarella, E.T., & Terenzini, P.T. (1991). *How college affects students* San Francisco Jossey-Bass.
Direct personal responses to Paul Umbach at pumbach@indiana.edu.
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