A Quantitative Analysis Of The Academic, Athletic, And Social Domain Perceptions Of Division I Football Players

The purpose of this study was to assess the results of a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I football team in terms of male student-athletes’ (N = 78) perceptions of identity development and the athletic career transition process in the context of student engagement research literature in higher education. Previous research with the Life After Sports Scale (LASS) (Harrison & Lawrence, 2002, 2003, 2004; Lawrence & Harrison, 2011), a 58-item mixed method inventory, has focused on the Division II male and female student-athlete experience. Using validation theory (Rendon, 1994) and student engagement frameworks, we found three major findings that are unique to previous literature in this area: a) there was cultural uniformity (Allport, 1954) between white and non-white student participants; b) student-athletes who are the first in their family to attend college are more likely to perceive faculty members as encouraging them to plan for a career after sports; and c) student-athletes who are the first in their family to attend college are more likely to have more non-athlete friends on campus as compared with student-athletes who are not first-generation college students. Future research directions and best practices are recommended for scholars and practitioners.