Predictors of Collegiate Student-Athletes' Susceptibility to Stereotype Threat

The present investigation sought to determine the extent to which collegiate student-athletes are susceptible to stereotype threat and the factors that predict it. We proposed a structural equation model (SEM) by which a perceived coach's positive regard for an athlete's academic ability, athletic identity, and academic identity predicts the degree of perceived stereotype threat while controlling for gender, race/ethnicity, type of sport, and division level. Also hypothesized, athletic and academic identities mediate the coach's attitude toward academics in predicting susceptibility to stereotype threat. Survey responses from 318 collegiate athletes showed the coach's regard for an athlete's academic ability emerged as a significant predictor of stereotype threat. A coach's regard for academic ability had a significant negative relationship with athletic identity, which, in turn, had a significant positive relationship with stereotype threat.