In the United States, there are currently over seven million high school athletes, all of whom are required to take four years of core classes as well as elective classes. Core subject areas consist of math, science, social sciences, and English language arts. Of the four core subject areas, both national and state education committees place emphasis and scrutiny on English language arts. The research within this thesis, conducted in the form of an interview, is meant to explore English language arts teachers' possible attitudes and expectations of their student athletes in concern to their writing abilities. Special emphasis will be placed on secondary English language arts teachers' perceptions of student-athletes' use of the standard conventions of English, such as spelling, punctuation, syntax, and grammar, within their writing. The results of four interviews with secondary English language arts teachers revealed that these secondary English language arts teachers did not hold different perceptions of their student-athletes writing abilities as compared to their non-athlete peers. All four participants revealed that they believe that the student-athletes in their classroom have the same writing abilities as non-athletes, and that being labeled as a student-athlete does not give way to either positive or negative perception of their writing. This exploratory study is beneficial to both student-athletes and English language arts teachers, as it may have the ability to affect change in the way that teachers approach and teach their student-athletes.

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Retirement from sport is a process that unfolds over time in which athletes have varied experiences, ranging from seamless transition to psychological distress. Researchers have sought to understand the variables (i.e., athletic identity, social support) that contribute to successful or unsuccessful transitions, with athletic identity being one of the most frequently mentioned. Athletes who strongly identify with the athlete role at the time of retirement are more at risk for adverse retirement outcomes (i.e., mental health concerns, identity concerns, substance use). To date, few studies have examined the moderating effect of coping resources, such as social support, on athletic identity at the time of retirement. The purpose of this study was two-fold. First, we found that student-athletes who graduated and retired had lower athletic identity, higher alcohol use, and less perceived social support than their peers who continued competing four months after graduation. Second, we longitudinally examined the relationship of athletic identity and social support to the psychological well-being (i.e., life satisfaction and binge drinking) of collegiate student athletes who retired from sport. Neither T1 athletic identity nor T1 social support, nor their interaction, were related to T2 life satisfaction or T2 alcohol use in the retired student-athletes after controlling for gender and the respective T1 variables. Further, being female and T1 life satisfaction were the only significant predictors for T2 life satisfaction; T1 alcohol use was the only predictor of T2 alcohol use. Implications of the findings, limitations, and future directions are discussed.

Coaches' knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about mental health – the construct of mental health literacy (MHL) – affects teams' mental health (MH) climates and the early detection, referral, and treatment of athletes' MH concerns. Thus, assessing collegiate coaches' MHL, and the factors related to its presence, is critical. Using the Mental Health Literacy Scale, I surveyed 1,571 NCAA coaches (Mage = 37.5 years, SD = 11.8; 51.4% cisgender female; 85.9% White) regarding their MHL and related demographic and MH-experience factors, including their belief regarding MH and sport performance. Overall, 99.9% of the coaches believed that athletes' MH affected their sport performances. Through hierarchical regression analyses, I found that coaches' exposure to MH treatment, their perceived helpfulness of MH treatment, their gender (i.e., woman), number of years coaching (i.e., fewer years), and NCAA Division in which they currently coach (i.e., DIII) were related significantly to their MHL, explaining 15.5% of variance. Coaches' race/ethnicity was not related to MHL. These findings provide insight on hiring and educating coaches, and hiring appropriately trained and licensed MH and sport psychology professionals. Specifically, coach education should be focused and practical: signs and symptoms of common MH concerns disorders; the ubiquity of MH concerns among athletes; how to talk to athletes about MH and suicide; and how to make timely, efficient, and respectful referrals following that system's specific procedures. Such education would be particularly beneficial for male coaches or those who have been coaching longer.

Thesis advisor: Heather Rowan-Kenyon / The U.S. college sports system is a multibillion-dollar industry. For more than a century, higher education institutions and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) have found ways to financially capitalize on the commercial appeal of college sports while preventing the student-athletes from sharing in the profits. Although the amateurism policies that restricted athletes from earning money have recently changed, the culture that prioritizes their athletic successes over academic goals has not. This pressure to win at all costs leads to exploitation of the Black student-athletes (BSAs) who comprise most of the revenue-producing teams at predominantly White schools (PWIs). Understanding BSAs’ academic and athletic experiences at PWIs requires a systems approach that examines how different systems influence their academic outcomes and sense of belonging.Using Bronfenbrenner and Morris’s (2007) Bioecological Model of Human Development as the overarching framework, this 3-paper qualitative dissertation explores how precollege experiences and intersecting identities shape interactions in BSAs’ microsystems and their sense of belonging at PWIs. The purpose of paper 1 is to understand how agency from precollege experiences influences Black football student-athletes’ (BFSAs) perception of the racial climate and sense of belonging at PWIs. Paper 2 explores how Black female basketball student-athletes’ (BFBSAs) intersectional identities impacts their academic experiences, self-efficacy and belonging. Paper 3 seeks to understand how current Division I (DI) policies influence football and women’s basketball coaches’ ability to provide holistic education to their student-athletes. Phenomenological interviews with Black former football players in paper 1 revealed that precollege experiences and attitudes influenced their decisions to attend PWIs over historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), shaped their perception of the racial climate at PWIs, and helped them develop agency to succeed, but finding belonging often depended on holistic experiences. In paper 2, phenomenological interviews with Black former women’s basketball players revealed how precollege academic identity, intersectionality, and coaching ethos impacted academic self-efficacy and belonging. In paper 3, in-depth interviews with football and women’s basketball coaches generated a theory of holistic coaching and revealed the challenges coaches face in providing a holistic education, including the changing student-athlete population and the transactional nature of college sports, and how they support the student-athletes of color on their teams. College athletics is a time-honored tradition that will continue to become more transactional as the financial stakes increase. Head coaches depend on the BSAs they recruit to elevate their athletic programs by delivering national championships to their institutions. The college sports system’s expectations that coaches prioritize athletic achievement over academic success are detrimental to BSAs’ academic experiences and belonging at PWIs. It is time for institutions to appreciate BSAs’ contributions beyond their athletic talents and provide the necessary resources to ensure their holistic development and successful outcomes. This 3-paper dissertation fills an essential gap in the literature on BSAs and makes recommendations to PWIs looking to improve their experiences. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2024. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

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