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The Social Experience of Freshmen Female Athletes. Janelle Fagg. Research Question:. How do the social experiences of female freshmen athletes affect their satisfaction with their university experience?. Participants:.
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The Social Experience of Freshmen Female Athletes Janelle Fagg
Research Question: • How do the social experiences of female freshmen athletes affect their satisfaction with their university experience?
Participants: • Female freshmen athletes at a mid-sized western religiously affiliated university • 1 individual interview • 1 interview of 2 students • 1 focus group of 5 • 1 focus group of 6
Literature: • Student-athletes often deal with balancing academics, social involvement, and their athletic commitment by separating their lives into three spheres (Miller & Kerr, 2002) • When students experience some kind of social interaction within the university they are more likely to feel a stronger sense of belonging (Haussmann, Schofield, & Woods, 2007).
Social connections have a strong relationship to a student’s institutional commitment (Strauss & Volkwein, 2004), and are important in helping students in their transition into universities (Friedlander, Reid, Shupak, & Cribble, 2007) • Student-athletes are more likely to experience social isolation as a result of the demands and stigma that comes with participation in college athletics (Petrie & Stoever, 1997)
May be beneficial for students to have a group of support from their athletic team initially, networks outside of their teammates may become difficult to develop, which may have a negative impact on their sense of belonging to the campus (Petrie & Stoever, 1997; Miller & Kerr, 2002) • Positive correlation between attending a religious college of a Protestant, Catholic, or Evangelical association and spiritual struggle (Bryant and Astin, 2008)
Interview Questions: • What was your freshmen orientation experience like? • What have you enjoyed most about your college experience so far? • When you look at your non-athlete peers how do you think your social experience differs from theirs? • Can you describe your social experience as an athlete? • Would you say you have been satisfied with your experience? • What kind of advice would you give next year’s freshmen so that they could have a satisfactory social experience on campus?
Results: • Still transcribing and coding • So far: • Limited, if any, participation in freshmen orientation • Enjoy freedom, and opportunity to embrace adulthood • Experience differs from non-athletes in time constraints • Social experience is with team and other athletes, sometime with peers in shared living area
Overall satisfaction with experience • Advice: lots of it! • Be yourself • Don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone • Make your faith your own • Know what you believe • Take care of your body: nutrition and sleep • Priorities and time management