Abstract
As National Collegiate Athletic Association athlete exploitation has become a growing concern (Grasgreen, 2011), it has become increasingly more important to examine the nature of how athletes are spending their time. The purpose of this study was to examine whether motivations change when Division I athletes are in season compared to out of season. A survey was distributed to Division I women’s gymnastics teams from the Mid-American Conference (MAC). Results were assessed based on the factors of academic motivation and their differences during the varying times of the academic year.In this study, individuals from five MAC schools participated. It was concluded that, while academic motivations in season and out of season differed, there was not one season that was more academically demanding than the other. Participants reported feeling busier when in season, although being busy was not found to concretely impact their academics in negative ways. Participants were found to be motivated year-round by their own high expectations and wanting to decrease stress but were more motivated when in season to get ahead on academics to avoid having to focus on academics while traveling to away competitions.
Highlights
As National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) athlete exploitation has become a growing concern, it has become increasingly more important to examine the nature of how athletes are spending their time
Analysis of the results of this study revealed that while the level of motivation and academic commitment did not vary much during in season and out of season, the stressors and threats to their motivation did differ based on the season
Based on the results of this study on academic motivations of Mid-American Conference (MAC) gymnasts, and if they differ in season compared to out of season, several conclusions can be made
Summary
As National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) athlete exploitation has become a growing concern, it has become increasingly more important to examine the nature of how athletes are spending their time. The NCAA has coined the term “student-athlete” to refer to the undergraduate members who participate in both the academic and athletic sides of college. This term makes a point of putting the term “student” before “athlete,” which emphasizes that the individual’s main priority is education ahead of athletics (Saffici & Pellegrino, 1998). Determining the academic motivations and attitudes will uncover knowledge that can be used to help make academic programming decisions that can be implemented by athletic administration staff These programs and/or tools can be used to better serve athletes and help them achieve their academic goals and stay motivated. “triggering the student-athlete identity on academic performance found that for some students it can be difficult to reconcile their athletic and student roles, causing deflated academic performance” (Provencio, 2016, p. 12)
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