Female and male student athletes' perceptions of career transition in sport and higher education: a visual elicitation and qualitative assessment

Abstract

The termination of a collegiate athletic career is inevitable for all student athletes. The purpose of this study was to explore student athletes' perceptions of the athletic career transition process. One-hundred-andforty-three (n = 143) National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II student athletes were administered the Life After Sports Scale (LASS) designed by the authors. The LASS is a 58-item mixed method inventory. The scope of this inquiry explored the qualitative section, which examined participants' perceptions that were visually primed with a narrative description of a student athlete who made the transition out of collegiate sport successfully. Three major themes emerged from the participants' responses: Career Path Well Planned, Balancing Academics and Athletics, and Positive Role Model. These themes are discussed in relation to the contextual approach used to explore human enactment in life and career.

A Qualitative Exploration of Former College Student-Athletes’ Wellness

“…Along with this, there may have been issues related to the gender distribution of the sample. Previous research indicates that female SAs may be less susceptible to issues with athletic transition due to the lack of professional athletic opportunities (Harrison & Lawrence 2004). Therefore, because over half of the participants were female (58.3%), these findings may not be representative of the entire SA population.…”

Toward an Understanding of Best Practices in Student-Athlete Peer Mentorship Programs: Implications for Division I Higher Education and Intercollegiate Athletics Practitioners

“…Athletic department practitioners must work to identify and then implement intentional curricular and programmatic methods which best prepare students to develop as future contributors to society (Baldwin & Blackburn, 1981;Savickas 2002Savickas , 2005. Furthermore, athletics department practitioners must continue to consider the specialized needs of a highly diverse 21st century student-athlete population as they make programmatic decisions (Danish et al, 1993;Harrison & Lawrence, 2003, 2004Howard-Hamilton & Sina, 2001;Petitpas, Buntrock, Van Raalte, & Brewer, 1995).…”

“…First, over the past 20 years, the highly commercialized world of intercollegiate athletics has increasingly influenced the way in which student-athletes, a subset of the higher education student body, navigate the college experience and balance roles as students and athletes (Adler & Adler, 1987;Broughton & Neyer, 2003;Danish, Petitpas, & Hale, 2003;Harrison & Lawrence, 2003, 2004. In the 21st century, the enhanced media attention of college sport has heightened the commercialization of the enterprise.…”

Career maturity and college students : a case study comparison of student-athletes and non-athletes at a Division I institution

“…It was not until the early in the 21 st century that any attention was given to student-athletes and their transition out of competitive sports (Harrison & Lawrence, 2004). This is quite interesting given the fact that large numbers of college student-athletes expect to have professional sports careers upon the culmination of their collegiate playing careers (Chartrand & Lent, 1987).…”

“…Historically, the career development needs of college student-athletes have been ignored, especially when compared to non-athletes (Harrison & Lawrence, 2004). In addition, college student-athletes are not as likely as non-athletes to engage themselves in the career development process (Martens & Lee, 1998;Shurts & Shoffner, 2004).…”