Examining Racial Differences in Social Capital Development Among College Student Athletes

Purpose

The struggles of minority student-athlete's to adapt and succeed in college, particularly African-American athletes, have been investigated for decades. Research has shown that black football players have lower graduation rates compared to their white counterparts (Siegel, 1996). This holds true for black basketball players also (Lapchick, 2000). From a social context, research has shown that black male student-athletes tend to overemphasize their athlete role to the detriment of their academic performance (Edwards, 2000; Harrison, 2000), and may have less behavioral adaptation due to limited socialization outside of athletics (Beamon & Bell, 2006). Other studies have shown that black students who attend historically white institutions have lower levels of engagement on campus (Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005).

Methods

The current research extends the literature by examining racial differences in the development of several aspects of social capital among college student-athletes. Social capital is the collective value of social networks, including the trust and reciprocity produced through these networks (Putnam, 2000). Few studies have examined social capital in a collegiate athletic setting, although Clopton (2008) found that student-athletes had higher levels of sense of community. Student-athletes (N=1600) were randomly selected online from 23 BCS institutions. A total of 546 student-athletes responded for a response rate of 34.3%. The Social Capital Assessment Tool (Krishna & Shrader, 1999) was adapted to assess both the overall social capital in the collegiate experience and the social capital within the team setting. Trust and social networks served as the core elements of each measure.

Analysis/Results

Independent sample t-tests revealed significant differences, with white student-athletes recording higher social network totals (t[546]=-2.92, p<.01) and trust (t[546]=-5.45, p<.001), as well as while higher overall social capital (t[546]=-4.51, p<.001) and team trust (t[494]=-2.68, p<.01). No significant differences existed between white and minority student-athletes in perceived levels of trust in either the team social networks or team social capital.

Conclusions

The results suggest that differences exist between white and minority student-athletes' perception of social capital at the highest levels of collegiate athletics. No differences were found at the team levels for overall social capital and social networks, suggesting that, perhaps, minority athletes have developed a sense of reciprocity at the athletic team level, but this sense of social capital does not seem to extend beyond the sport team setting. Further, the lack of overall trust in the university and team settings merit further research into the impact of today's culture of college sport upon minority student-athletes.