Dear Student-Athlete: Illuminating the Voices of Former Female Student-Athletes of Color
Abstract
Racism and sexism have and continue to permeate college sport. While scholars have explored the impact this has on African American male student-athletes, and female student-athletes in general, fewer have directed their attention to the lived experiences of female student-athletes of color. Thus, this population has remained silenced, marginalized, and understudied both historically and in contemporary times. This study fills this gap by illuminating and centralizing the voices of former female student-athletes of color and strives to answer the questions: a) How did race and gender impact the lived experiences of former female student-athletes of color who attended historically White colleges/universities (HWCUs)?; b) How did former female student-athletes of color navigate the good, the bad, and the ugly of their sports organization (i.e., athletic department) and campus life at their HWCU?; and c) What strategies could be applied to enhance the development of current student-athletes of color? Critical race feminism (CRF) and Intersectionality were utilized as theoretical tools to frame this study. Purposeful criterion and snowball sampling were used to recruit N=15 former NCAA female student-athletes of color. Data collection included: a) Background questionnaire; b) In depth semi-structured interview; and c) Written narrative. Findings were analyzed via qualitative content analysis and discourse analysis. Eleven salient themes emerged from the data. Implications for research, theory, and practice in sport management and beyond consists of extending this work to include other former student-athletes, the potential and utility of CRF, and creating community amongst former student-athletes via digital media platforms, and the creation of merchandise. This work has the potential to make impact in the academic sense but also direct impact with this community directly.
Citation
Oshiro, Kristi Fusako (2020). Dear Student-Athlete: Illuminating the Voices of Former Female Student-Athletes of Color. Doctoral dissertation, Texas A&M University. Available electronically from https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /192553.