Premium
Studying the Determinants of Student‐Athlete Grade Point Average: The Roles of Identity, Context, and Academic Interests *
Author(s) -
Beron Kurt J.,
Piquero Alex R.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
social science quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.482
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1540-6237
pISSN - 0038-4941
DOI - 10.1111/ssqu.12235
Subject(s) - seriousness , context (archaeology) , identity (music) , psychology , academic achievement , social psychology , mathematics education , political science , geography , physics , archaeology , acoustics , law
Objective The relationship between academic achievement, especially grade point average (GPA), and college athletics is often focused on “big‐time” (National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I (NCAA DI)) colleges. This study examines athletic and academic identity correlates with student‐athlete (SA) GPA for not only DI but also DII and DIII SAs, separately by sex. Methods The GPAs of over 19,000 SAs across divisions are analyzed using OLS with covariates including athletic and academic indicators. The analysis pools SAs, separates by division, and separates by division and sex. Additional analyses were conducted for the revenue‐producing sports. Results SAs’ GPA is directly influenced by their athletic versus academic identity, the athletic context including the coach's influence, and the seriousness with which they view academics. Cross‐equation joint testing found no statistical differences in athletic or academic identity across division and sex. Conclusions Two beliefs are widely presumed: that DI SAs' focus on athletics more than SAs in the “less competitive” divisions leads them to worse academic outcomes, and that the athletic identity of male SAs has a greater impact on academic performance than female SAs. Our results provide no evidence for either presumption.