Concern over the academic talent development of Division I student–athletes has led to increased research to explain variations in their academic performance. Although a substantial amount of attention has been given to the relationship between student–athletes and their levels of academic success, there remain critical theoretical and analytical gaps. The purpose of this article is to develop a conceptual model to understand and explain the cumulative processes and characteristics—as a whole and in stages—that influence academic success for Division I student–athletes. Research on student–athletes and academic success is reviewed and synthesized to provide a rationale for the basic elements of the conceptual model.
AdlerP. A.AdlerP. (1991). Backboards and blackboards: Colleges and role engulfment. New York: Columbia University Press.
2.
AlthouseJ. N. (2007). Testing a model of first-semester student–athlete academic motivation and motivational balance between academics and athletics. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Pennsylvania State University.
3.
AstinA. W. (1993a). Assessment for excellence. Phoenix, AZ: American Council on Education and Oryx Press.
4.
AstinA. (1993b). What matters in college?San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
5.
AstinA. (1996). Involvement in learning revisited. Journal of College Student Development, 36, 123–134.
6.
BeanJ. P.MetznerB. S. (1985). A conceptual model of nontraditional undergraduate student attrition. Review of Educational Research, 55, 485–540.
7.
BenfordR. D. (2007). The college sports reform movement: Reframing the “edutainment” industry. Sociological Quarterly, 48, 1–28.
8.
BensonK. F. (2000). Constructing academic inadequacy: African American athletes’ stories of schooling. Journal of Higher Education, 71, 223–246.
9.
BowenW. G.LevinS. A. (2003). Reclaiming the game: College sports and educational values. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
10.
BrooksD.AlthouseR. (2007). Diversity and social justice in college sports: Sport management and the student athlete. Morgantown, WV: Fitness Information Technology.
11.
BrueningJ.ArmstrongK.PastoreD. (2005). Listening to the voices: The experiences of African American female athletes. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 76(1), 82–100.
ComeauxE. (2007). Student(less) athlete: Identifying the unidentified college student. Journal for the Study of Sports and Athletes in Education, 1, 37–43.
16.
ComeauxE. (2010a). Mentoring as an intervention strategy: Toward a (re)negotiation of first year student–athlete role identities. Journal for the Study of Sports and Athletes in Education, 4, 257–275.
17.
ComeauxE. (2010b). Racial differences in faculty perceptions of collegiate student athletes’ academic and post-undergraduate achievements. Sociology of Sport Journal, 27, 390–412.
18.
ComeauxE.HarrisonC. K. (2006). Gender, sport and higher education: The impact of student–faculty interactions on academic achievement. Academic Athletic Journal, 19(1), 38–55.
19.
ComeauxE.HarrisonC. K. (2007). Faculty and male student–athletes in American higher education: Racial differences in the environmental predictors of academic achievement. Race, Ethnicity and Education, 10, 199–214.
20.
ComeauxE.SpeerL.TaustineM.HarrisonC. K. (2011). Purposeful engagement of first year Division I student–athletes. Journal of the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition, 23(1), 35–52.
21.
CurtisT. R. (2006). Encouraging student–athletes’ academic success through task orientation goal-setting. Journal of College and Character, 7(3), 1–5.
22.
DavisT. (1995). Racism in athletics: Subtle yet persistent. University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review, 21, 881–900.
23.
DuderstadtJ. (2000). Intercollegiate athletics and the American university: A university president’s perspective. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
24.
Duncan-AndradeJ. M. (2010). What a coach can teach a teacher. New York: Peter Lang.
25.
EdwardsH. (1984). The Black “dumb jock”: An American sports tragedy. College Board Review, 131, 8–13.
26.
EitzenD. (1988). The educational experiences of intercollegiate student–athletes. Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 11, 15–30.
27.
EitzenD. (2009). Fair and foul: Beyond the myths and paradoxes of sport. New York: Rowman & Littlefield.
28.
FoltzR. A. (1992). Academic achievement of student–athletes. Unpublished master’s thesis, Fort Hays State University, Hays, KS.
29.
Gaston-GaylesJ. L. (2004). Examining academic and athletic motivation among student athletes at a Division I university. Journal of College Student Development, 45, 75–83.
30.
Gaston-GaylesJ. L.HuS. (2009). The influence of student engagement and sport participation on college outcomes among Division I student athletes. Journal of Higher Education, 80, 315–333.
31.
GerdyJ. (2006). Air ball: American education’s failed experiment with elite athletics. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi.
32.
HallS. (1992). The question of cultural identity. In HallS.HeldD.McGrewT. (Eds.), Modernity and its futures (pp. 273–316). Cambridge, UK: Polity Press in association with the Open University.
33.
HarrisonC. K. (1995, November). Perceptions of education and sport by African American male student–athletes. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport, Sacramento, CA.
34.
HarrisonC. K. (2002). Scholar or baller in American higher education: A visual elicitation and qualitative assessment of the student–athlete’s mindset. NASAP Journal, 8(1), 66–81.
35.
HarrisonC. K. (2004). Narratives of Scholar-Baller. Robeson Center Dataset of Student–athletes, Paul Robeson Research Center for Academic and Athletic Prowess, University of Central Florida, Orlando.
36.
HarrisonC. K.BoydJ. (2007). Mainstreaming and integrating the spectacle and substance of Scholar-Baller: A new blueprint for higher education, the NCAA, and society. In BrooksD.AlthouseR. (Eds.), Diversity and social justice in college sports: Sport management and the student–athlete (pp. 201–231). Morgantown, WV: Fitness Information Technology.
37.
HawkinsB. J. (1999). Black student athletes at predominately White National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I institutions and the pattern of oscillating migrant laborers. Western Journal of Black Studies, 23(1), 1–9.
38.
HinkleJ. S. (1994). Sports counseling: Helping student athletes (ED 379 532). Washington, DC: Office of Educational Research and Improvement.
39.
HoodS. (2004). A journey to understand the role of culture in program evaluation: Snapshots and personal reflections of one African American evaluator. New Directions for Evaluation, 102, 21–37.
40.
Howard-HamiltonM.WattS. (2001). Student services for athletes (New Directions for Student Services No. 93). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
41.
HuS.KuhG. D. (2002). Being (dis)engaged in educationally purposeful activities: The influences of student and institutional characteristics. Research in Higher Education, 43, 555–575.
42.
HuS.KuhG. D. (2003). Diversity experiences and college student learning and personal development. Journal of College Student Development, 44, 320–334.
43.
JayakumarU.ComeauxE. (2011). A perpetual (un)balancing act: The role of an athletic organization in shaping student–athlete identities. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans, LA.
44.
JollyC. (2008). Raising the question #9: Is the student–athlete population unique? And why should we care?Communication Education, 57(1), 145–151.
45.
Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics. (2010). Restoring the balance: Dollars, values, and the future of college sports. Miami, FL: Author.
46.
Knight Foundation Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics. (2001). A call to action: Reconnecting college sport and higher education. Miami, FL: Author.
47.
KozolJ. (1991). Savage inequalities: Children in America’s schools. New York: Crown.
48.
KozolJ. (2005). The shame of the nation: The restoration of apartheid schooling in America. New York: Crown.
49.
KuhG. D. (2001). Assessing what really matters to student learning: Inside the national survey of student engagement. Change, 33(3), 10–17, 66.
50.
Ladson-BillingsG. (1995). Toward a theory of culturally relevant pedagogy. American Educational Research Journal, 32, 465–491.
51.
LanceL. M. (2004). Gender differences in perceived role conflict among university student–athletes. College Student Journal, 38, 179–190.
52.
LangG.DunhamR. G.AlpertG. P. (1988). Factors related to the academic success and failure of college football players: The case of the mental dropout. Youth and Society, 20, 209–222.
53.
LawrenceS. M. (2005). African American athletes’ experiences of race in sport. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 40, 99–110.
54.
MahiriJ. (1998). Shooting for excellence: African American and youth culture in new century schools. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English.
55.
MahiriJ.Van RheenenD. (2010). Out of bounds: When scholarship athletes become academic scholars. New York: Peter Lang.
56.
MaloneyM. T.McCormickR. E. (1993). An examination of the role that intercollegiate athletic participation plays in academic achievement: Athletes’ feats in the classroom. Journal of Human Resources, 28, 555–570.
MeyerS. K. (2005). NCAA academic reforms: Maintaining the balance between academics and athletics. Phi Kappa Phi Forum, 85(3), 15–18.
59.
MilemJ. F.BergerJ. B. (1997). A modified model of college student persistence: Exploring the relationship between Astin’s theory of involvement and Tinto’s theory of student departure. Journal of College Student Development, 38, 387–400.
60.
MorrellE. (2002). Toward a critical pedagogy of popular culture: Literacy development among urban youth. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 46(1), 72–77.
61.
MorrellE.Duncan-AndradeJ. M. R. (2002). Toward a critical classroom discourse: Promoting academic literacy through engaging hip-hop with urban youth. English Journal, 91(6), 88–94.
62.
National Survey of Student Engagement. (2005). Student engagement: Exploring different dimensions of student engagement. Bloomington: Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research.
63.
National Collegiate Athletic Association. (2009). NCAA Division I graduation success rate (GSR) data. Retrieved from http://www.ncaa.org
64.
National Collegiate Athletic Association. (2011). NCAA finance. Retrieved from http://www.ncaa.org
65.
OakesJ.RogersJ.SilerD.HorngE.GoodeJ. (2004). Separate and unequal 50 years after Brown: California’s racial “opportunity gap.”Los Angeles: Institute for Democracy, Education, and Access.
66.
ParhamW. (1993). The intercollegiate athlete: A 1990s profile. The Counseling Psychologist, 21, 411–429.
67.
PascarellaE. T.EdisonM.HagedornL. S.NoraA.TerenziniP. T. (1996). Influences of students’ internal locus of attribution for academic success in the first year of college. Research in Higher Education, 37, 731–753.
68.
PascarellaE.TerenziniP. (1991). How college affects students: Vol. 1. Findings and insights from twenty years of research. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
69.
PascarellaE. T.TerenziniP. T. (2005). How college affects students: Vol. 2. A third decade of research. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
70.
PascarellaE. T.TruckenmillerR.NoraA.TerenziniP. T.EdisonM.HagedornL. S. (1999). Cognitive impact of intercollegiate athletic participation. Journal of Higher Education, 70, 1–26.
71.
PerlmutterD. (2003). Black athletes and White professors: A twilight zone of uncertainty. Chronicle of Higher Education, 50(7), B7.
72.
PetrieT. A.RussellR. K. (1995). Academic and psychosocial antecedents of academic performance for minority and nonminority college football players. Journal of Counseling and Development, 73, 615–662.
73.
PotutoJ. R.O’HanlonJ. (2007). National study of student– athletes regarding their experiences as college students. College Student Journal, 41, 947–966.
74.
RuedaR. (2004). An urban education view of culture and learning. UrbanEd (Rossier School of Education, University of Southern California).
75.
RyanF. J. (1989). Participation in intercollegiate athletics: Affirmative outcomes. Journal of College Student Development, 30, 122–128.
76.
SackA. (2001). Big-time athletics vs. academic values: It’s a rout. Chronicle of Higher Education, 59(1), 2–21.
77.
SackA. L.ThielR. (1985). College basketball and role conflict: A national survey. Sociology of Sport Journal, 2, 195–209.
78.
SailesG. (1993). An investigation of campus stereotypes: The myth of Black athletic superiority and the dumb jock stereotypes. Sociology of Sport Journal, 10, 88–97.
79.
ScottB. M.PaskusT. S.MirandaM.PetreT. A.McArdleJ. J. (2008). In-season vs. out-of-season academic performance of college student–athletes. Journal of Intercollegiate Sports, 1, 202–226.
80.
SedlacekW.Adams-GastonJ. (1992). Predicting the academic success of student–athletes using SAT and noncognitive variables. Journal of Counseling and Development, 70, 724–727.
81.
SellersR. (1989, August). The role of motivation in the academic preparation of student–athletes. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Association of Black Sociologists, San Francisco, CA.
82.
SellersR. M. (1992). Racial differences in the predictors of academic achievement of student–athletes of Division I revenue-producing sports. Sociology of Sport Journal, 1, 46–51.
83.
SellersR.KupermineR.WadellA. (1991, Fall). Life experiences of Black student–athletes in revenue producing sports: A descriptive empirical analysis. Academic Athletic Journal, 20–38.
84.
ShulmanJ.BowenW. (2001). The game of life: College sports and educational values. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
85.
SimonsH.Van RheenenD. (2000). Noncognitive predictors of student–athletes’ academic performance. Journal of College Reading and Learning, 30, 167–193.
86.
SimonsH. S.Van RheenenD.CovingtonM. V. (1999). Academic motivation and the student–athlete. Journal of College Student Development, 40, 151–161.
87.
SingerJ. N. (2005). Understanding racism through the eyes of African American male student–athletes. Race Ethnicity and Education, 8, 365–386.
88.
SolorzanoD.OrnelasA. (2004). A critical race analysis of advanced placement classes and selective admissions. High School Journal, 87, 15–26.
89.
SpadyW. G. (1970). Dropouts from higher education: An interdisciplinary review and synthesis. Interchange, 1, 64–85.
90.
SteinbachP. (2004). Patch work: “Scholar Baller” logos on ASU football jerseys, which honor B students, may start a trend. Athletic Business, 28(11), 28–32.
91.
StevensonC. (1999). Becoming an elite international athlete: Making decisions about identity. In CoakleyJ.DonnellyP. (Eds.), Inside sport (pp. 86–95). London: Routledge.
92.
StoneJ.StrangeC. (1989). Quality of student experiences of freshmen intercollegiate athletes. Journal of College Student Development, 30, 148–154.
ThelinJ. R. (1994). Games colleges play: Scandal and reform in intercollegiate athletics. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
95.
TintoV. (1975). Dropout from higher education: A theoretical synthesis of recent research. Review of Educational Research, 45, 89–125.
96.
TintoV. (1987). Leaving college: Rethinking the causes and cures of student departure. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
97.
UmbachP. D.PalmerM. M.KuhG. D.HannahS. J. (2006). Intercollegiate athletes and effective educational practices: Winning combination or losing effort?Research in Higher Education, 47, 709–733.
98.
WattS. K.MooreJ. L. (2001). Student services for athletes (New Directions for Student Services No. 93). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
99.
WhiteT. J.SedlacekW. (1986). Noncognitive predictors, grades and retention of specially admitted students. Journal of College Admissions, 3, 20–23.
100.
WolvertonB. (2008, January25). Athletes’ hours renew debate over college sports. Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved from http://chronicle.com
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
