Background: Research has indicated differences in perceptions among students, employers, and faculty related to internships, but most studies are either discipline-specific or fail to encompass all three of the aforementioned stakeholders. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the perceptions of these three stakeholders as they pertain to (a) the value of a student internship experience and (b) the provisions that should be offered by internship sites and higher education institutions during an internship. Methodology/Approach: Survey research was used to collect the data and analysis revealed a number of areas of divergence in the perceptions of these stakeholders. Findings/Conclusions: A total of 33 differences were identified in the perceptions of students, employers, and faculty, with most of the differences occurring between the students and one or both of the other parties. Implications: Drawing from the notions of stakeholder theory, these differences are meaningful in that if they are not addressed, expectations may go unmet, which can undermine actual or perceived success. The results of this study suggest that specific, proactive interventions designed to foster better dialogue between internship stakeholders would be of benefit.
Male undergraduate sport management majors substantially outnumber females, suggesting that the path to a career in the sport industry is male dominated and gender stereotypes may exist. Simultaneously, there is a dearth of research on females’ experiences while enrolled in higher education and within sport management career development. Through qualitative focus groups conducted at two institutions with female sport management majors, this research sought to understand the barriers and sources of support that female students perceive while engaged in this academic discipline. The authors identified four themes—otherness, roles and credibility, prior experiences, and people of influence—all of which help illuminate the lived experience of gender bias among women in the sport management major and generate suggestions for the creation of more inclusive environments that foster persistence.
This study’s purpose was to contribute to the understanding of athlete self-presentation on Twitter by focusing on the communication strategies of an entire team of female athletes during an international mega-event, with special attention given to how the athletes’ communication changed in the surrounding time periods. Content analysis was performed on tweets from all 23 players on the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team during 30-day time periods before, during, and after the 2015 World Cup. Findings revealed an overall tendency towards backstage communication, with some commonalities between the self-presentation styles utilized by individual athletes on the team. In addition, there were organic, intuitive changes in the players’ self-presentation across various time periods. Further, analysis of follower engagement via retweets indicated greater interest in athletes’ backstage communication compared to front stage. These findings yield implications for future research and practical application, which are examined in the discussion.
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