Collegiate Sports Participation, Academic Achievement, and Bachelor's Degree Completion

Popular attention to the multi‐million‐dollar enterprise of collegiate sports often centers on the extent to which student athletes are academically engaged. In this article, we draw on a national sample of approximately 5,000 college‐goers, employ key comparisons (i.e., high‐visibility student athl...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sociological forum (Randolph, N.J.) N.J.), 2023-12, Vol.38 (4), p.1266-1287
Main Authors: Tompsett, James, Mcdossi, Oded, Roscigno, Vincent J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Academic achievement
Athletes
Attention
Baccalaureate degrees
College sports
College students
Educational attainment
Educational research
Higher education
Inequality
Sports
Sports participation
Student athletes
Students
Visibility
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Popular attention to the multi‐million‐dollar enterprise of collegiate sports often centers on the extent to which student athletes are academically engaged. In this article, we draw on a national sample of approximately 5,000 college‐goers, employ key comparisons (i.e., high‐visibility student athletes, nonrevenue student athletes, and nonathletes), and consider background disadvantages and collegiate division levels relative to achievement (i.e., grade point average) and bachelor's degree completion. Analyses show that once background attributes and division levels are accounted for, there is little difference in achievement and attainment between high‐visibility student athletes and their nonathlete peers. There is, however, a dual advantage in 4‐year degree completion for those playing other collegiate sports—an advantage tied to their more privileged family and educational backgrounds and their participation in intercollegiate athletics itself. Our results in these regards are robust to several restrictive and analytically rigorous modeling strategies. We conclude by highlighting the implications for higher education research and its attention to inequality, educational representation, institutional processes, and student success.
ISSN:0884-8971
1573-7861
DOI:10.1111/socf.12967