Athletic Identity and Student Involvement of Female Athletes at NCAA Division III Women's and Coeducational Colleges

Over the last 40 years, coeducation has widely replaced single-sex education. The number of women's colleges in the United States decreased from 268 in 1960 to 70 in 2002 (Women's College Coalition, 2002). Smith (1990) determined that institutions were not convinced that women benefited from attending a single-sex school. The closing of women's colleges was supported by the assumption that coeducation provides equitable education for men and women (Tidball, Smith, Tidball, & Wolf-Wendell, 1999). Researchers have demonstrated the opposite effects; not only do women's colleges provide a more effective academic climate, but coeducation is potentially detrimental to the success of female students (Smith, Wolf, & Morrison, 1995).

Student involvement in the academic and extracurricular domains has been cited repeatedly as a key factor differentiating the women's and coeducational environments (Astin, 1977; Kim, 2001; Smith, 1990; Smith et al., 1995). Taking into consideration precollege traits and background demographics, Smith et al. found that attending a women's college was positively associated with student involvement. Women's colleges were found to offer and encourage opportunities for involvement to a greater extent than coeducational colleges. Attending a women's college was also positively correlated with students' perceptions of their institution as student-centered, which itself was a positive predictor of academic and extracurricular involvement (Smith et al.).

Women's colleges offer students a chance to interact with female role models in multiple academic fields (Tidball, 1976, 1980, 1986). Tidball et al. (1999) argued that students at women's colleges are not only exposed to a culture that supports women pursuing any field they choose, but they also have professors who confirm that women are capable of doing so. When students perceive that their school is supportive of their education, they are more likely to increase their academic involvement by spending more time studying, conducting research, and interacting regularly with professors (Smith, 1990; Smith et al., 1995). Astin (1977) and Smith et al. have found that the academic involvement of the students at women's colleges is significantly greater than that of the women on coeducational campuses.

Similar results have been found when comparing the extracurricular involvement of women on these campuses (Astin, 1977; Kim, 2001; Smith et al., 1995). Astin found that students at women's colleges are more likely to engage in artistic interests and political liberalism, attain positions of leadership, become involved with student government, and develop high aspirations. Tidball et al. (1999) proposed that women's colleges provide opportunities for women to explore multiple roles, many of which are male-dominated at coeducational colleges. "At women's colleges, whatever roles students perform—from managing the physics laboratory, to maintaining audiovisual equipment, to running student investment portfolios, to performing in athletic competitions—must be handled by women" (Tidball et al., p. 109). Research has shown that women are encouraged to explore multiple roles and embrace leadership positions to a greater extent at women's colleges than at coeducational colleges (Astin; Kim; Tidball et al.).

One potentially salient role for many college students that has yet to be examined in terms of the comparison between women's colleges and coeducational colleges is that of student-athlete. Although athletic identity (i.e., the degree of identification with the athlete role) has been investigated extensively among intercollegiate athletes (e.g., Brewer, Van Raalte, & Linder, 1993; Brown & Hartley, 1998; Good, Brewer, Petitpas, Van Raalte, & Mahar, 1993), research has focused exclusively on student-athletes attending coeducational colleges. Differences in the athletic identity of student-athletes in the women's and coeducational environments is of particular concern due to previous studies that have indicated that strong identification with the athletic role was inversely related to career maturity (Murphy, Petitpas, & Brewer, 1996) and adjustment to sport transitions such as injury (Brewer, 1993) and sport career termination (Grove, Lavallee, & Gordon, 1997).

Given the higher levels of student involvement (and, as a consequence, role exploration) among students at women's colleges than at coeducational colleges (Astin, 1977...