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Nov
5
Race, Gender, and College Graduation Rates Student Athletes
Filed Under Black/African American Issues, Education and Academia, Gender and Sexism, Original Essays and Analysis, Pop Culture, Race and Racism by Rachel
Over at Field Negro several people were commenting on the case of a black college athlete accused of sexual assault. The comment thread turned into an opportunity to dis the guy because he was a 5th year senior, and the discussion devolved further with people making some baseless claims about black athletes. 1
I just wanted to clear up a few common misconceptions that were reiterated in the thread. First, in general being a 5th year senior is no big deal. In fact, it is quite common for students, regardless of whether or not they are athletes, to take more than four years to graduate. One of the biggest reasons for this is financial problems, but it may include other factors that students cannot control like family problems, health problems, poor academic advising, and course scheduling troubles2 Of course, it also includes things that students can control. Many students take just enough credits to count as full time (in a semester system that is 4 courses), but in reality they need to take more than the minimum to graduate (usually 5 classes most semesters and a few semesters with 6 classes). This is can be the result of bad advising and/or student who doesn’t pay attention to basic requirements. Some students slack off and fail classes that they have to repeat. Others don’t meet minimum grade point averages (GPA), and have to take more classes or repeat classes to get the graduation GPA level.3 For athletes, redshirts, are common. The student may sit out a season for a medical redshirt or because they are unprepared to play for the team. This leaves many 5th year senior athletes. Just because a student is in the 5th year doesn’t mean that person is a terrible student.
The second myth is that black athletes do poorly in school. Statistically, black athletes are more likely to graduate from college than blacks who are not athletes. This study from the National Consortium for Academics and Sports cites well known researcher Richard Lapchick:
It should be noted that African-American student-athletes, including revenue sport
student-athletes, graduate at a higher rate than African-Americans who are student athletes.
African-American student-athletes as a whole graduate with a nine percent
margin (52 percent vs. 43 percent) over African-American students as a whole. The
higher rate is true of male and female student-athletes alike. Male African-American
student-athletes graduated at 48 percent vs. the 36 percent for all male African-
American students. African-American female student-athletes graduate at a 63 percent
rate vs. 47 percent for African-American females in the student-athlete body as a whole.
One of the benefits of examining graduation rates is that they focus light on the fact that
too many of our predominantly white campuses are not welcoming places for students of
color, whether or not they are athletes.This data for the significant improvement of African-American student-athletes indicates
that our athletic departments may be doing a better job in creating an environment for
success for African-American student-athletes than our institutions of higher education
are in general.Lapchick continued, However, race remains a continuing academic issue even for
student-athletes. This is reflected in the remaining gaps between graduation rates for
white and African-American student-athletes. This is an issue that we still do need to
address on our campuses.
In the same section the researchers also provide details statistics comparing 6 year graduation rates for black students. The data is divided by gender and athletic status. The numbers represent the federal averages, and the last category (Federal Rate GSR) seeks to correct for a statistical problem created when colleges have to count student transfers as dropouts even if they graduate at the school they transfer to. The pattern for black male students seems to be the opposite of that for whites–for white males being an athlete means you are less likely to graduate. Although I could not find exact numbers, I did find an older article from the November 5, 2004 edition of the Chronicle of Higher Education called “Graduations Rates Rise for Athletes” that said that overall male athletes are less likely to graduate than males who are not athletes. Since the majority of college athletes are white males, then this statistic suggests that white male athletes have lower graduation rate than white males who are not athletes, but the data below shows that this is not the case for black males.
There are a host of reasons why black athletes graduate at higher rates than black students who are not athletes. A few of those reasons would include: black athletes usually have significant scholarship money, athletes often receive tutors and extra counseling, athletes usually are required to attend “study table,” and athletes can build social networks with other athletes which provides social support unavailable to many non-athletes.
It is sad to see black athletes vilified so often in popular media, especially when they out perform other black students. Imagine how many more black college graduates we would have if we raised the graduation rates for all black students to the level that it is for black athletes. Since most black students are not athletes, this would be a very significant number. In fact, I wish we paid more attention to black students who weren’t athletes because they don’t get the same level of social and financial support. Of course, the ultimate goal would be to close the graduation gap between blacks and whites, but in the short run, raising the graduation rates for non-athlete black students is a much easier goal. But nobody is focused on that problem, since they tend to think black athletes are the source of lower achievement for black college students..
- Lynn has a further discussion of the rape aspect of the thread and the case. In this analysis, I just focusing on the race and graduation issues, but Lynn posts makes some important points about rape and the framing of the story. [back]
- In my own experience this usually involves students who need a particular class, but are unable to take it because it conflicts with other requirements or is only offered once a year. The student or adviser may not have realized this until this last minute. [back]
- You can’t graduate from most colleges unless you have a C average or higher, and often the student also has to achieve a minimum GPA within their major. The minimum major GPA usually ranges anywhere from a C+ to a B. [back]
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9 Responses to “Race, Gender, and College Graduation Rates Student Athletes”
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Black students on majority White campuses don’t recieve the same kind of academic support from the institution as athletes in revenue producing sports (or major non-revenue producing sports). I’ve seen it from both sides. At the “factories” especially, the athletic department goes all out to attempt to ensure you get to class, get your notes, help on your tests (old tests, etc). There’s a lot of hand holding, basically. If you can’t get your degree and you’re a scholarship athlete you just don’t give a damn about the degree, it doesn’t reflect on your ability or lack thereof.
Non-athlete White students can get this kind of access from the fraternity/sorority system at some schools. It was that way at Carolina at least. Fraternities kept old tests and papers from various classes at their house, for example. Of course, many of them came into the school from Choate, etc, so they were already at an advantage in terms of being prepared for higher education.
“Some students slack off and fail classes that they have to repeat. Others dont meet minimum grade point averages (GPA), and have to take more classes or repeat classes to get the graduation GPA level.”
Not to mention those major-required courses and seminars that you have to pass with a B (not B-minus) or higher to continue with the major. Or switching majors two semesters from graduation and having to complete the credit-requirement for that major.
Another factor is that student athletes (male and female of all races and ethnicities) are expected to participate in a physically, psychologically, and emotionally draining schedule that is beyond demanding and often grueling on a daily basis, even outside their particular season. It should not be forgotten that whether or not they make great money for the institution, student athletes bring recognition to the school, which is important on a number of levels, not the least of which is that it encourages other students to enroll.
It is not uncommon for student athletes to be required to be on the field at 5:00 a.m. for a couple of hours of rigorous training before their day even begins. Weight-lifting may be required in the middle of the day (and not just for football players). And another three to four hours of training and practice later in the afternoon caps off the process. And all of this has to be done full tilt boogie. I was recently told by a woman basketball player, for example, that they run the campus early every morning (four miles) and they must shave two seconds off their yesterday’s time or come back and run it again in the middle of the day (when the sun is high). And this is before breakfast.
Then, of course, there are the games, tournaments, matches, and meets that may take them off campus for a whole day or two at a whack on a regular basis. They don’t get special consideration in class or on assignments for this. Teachers routinely watch student athletes who could do much better struggle to meet basic course expectations because of the athletic regimen. And they typically have no other path they could count on. If they want the degree, they have to do what all the other students do WHILE being committed to six or eight hours per day meeting the demands of coaches who don’t want to hear it. And if they don’t keep the grades up to a decent level, they can’t play. Obviously, five courses requiring hours of regular homework on top of class time might be too many under these circumstances.
I have nothing but respect for young people who rise to this challenge–however long it takes to get the pay-off. People that criticize them don’t have a clue.
“Theres a lot of hand holding, basically. If you cant get your degree and youre a scholarship athlete you just dont give a damn about the degree, it doesnt reflect on your ability or lack thereof.”
When it comes to the popular mens team sports I agree 100%.
I went to a college with one of the best football teams in the nation, and the players did not just receive “tutoring”. They had ALL their academic work done for them by a support team. I even knew how much was paid per page for essays. This kind of stuff is really an open secret.
Being a student athlete is a good thing in principle, and for many sports and colleges it does work according to principle. But once you get to the high level of team sports, the fiction that they’re “students” is laughable. They’re professional players loosely attached to the college.
I’m not sure that the higher graduation rate is especially indicative of increased skill.
First of all, at the larger colleges, athletes (black and white) are more akin to professional athletes than to students. Sure, there are some who are smart, and sure, there are some who really give a hoot, but by and large they’re there to play ball (or wrestle, or…)
This isn’t very surprising: at any school there are only a comparatively small percentage of serious students, so the number who also happen to be serious athletes is likely to be small.
Furthermore, there’s the “what grade?” question and then there’s the followup “…in what?” question. Psychology is much simpler than chemistry. Grade comparisons that don’t control for majors are fairly problematic for obvious reasons.
Really, many athletes have made a choice at some point to prioritize athletics, which obviously suggests a deprioritization of
Feh. I’ve been on college teams, and a goodly portion of my college friends were athletes. I criticize them, and I actually know of what I speak.
If you’re going to use that “don’t have a clue” jazz to tar those who disagree with you–in advance, yet!–you damn well better be a college level coach , an ex-college player, or be possessed of some unusual evidence. Which is it?
Actually, I have evidence, Sailorman. I’ve taught at five public universities in three states over a twenty-year period. Three of these schools had championship teams in their division and one of them had the Heisman Trophy winner and won the national title in football while I was tutoring some of the players so they could pass their exams. One of the guys I tutored went on to get a Master’s degree in sociology and then recruited players for the team for some years.
I’ve heard all the stories and I know that some of them are true, but I know whereof I speak about the other stuff as well. If you’ll note, I was speaking primarily about the rigors of sports and less about performance in the classroom. And I stand by what I said about that. Additionally, I was speaking about student athletes in general across the board (male and female, all sports) and they don’t all get hot-housed in anything like the same way as guys on major money teams. Maybe some schools pay for essays for some students. The ones I’ve been at were apparently different. Besides, I’ve been reading students’ essays for twenty years and if my athlete students have been buying them, they got gipped.
Different schools have different policies, or should I say different athletic departments.
Non-revenue athletes have access to the same system that revenue athletes have. The difference may be that many non-revenue sports have many athletes who aren’t on scholarship and don’t have the same access (again depends on policy).
Perhaps at the schools Changeseeker taught, they weren’t so nervous about graduation rates as they might be at schools with an academic reputation equal to their athletic reputation. Without knowing, I’m just tossing out guesses to create a meeting of the minds . . .
This business about the athletes just being temporary pros is partly an unfortunate stereotype. Of course we assume you’re talking about football/basketball/baseball/soccer, the sports where there is actually an opportunity to go pro. Even within these sports, many are concerned about their academic performance and what happens after the draft and their name isn’t called. I hope that my suggestion that athletic departments “hand hold” doesn’t lead people to believe that guys don’t care at all.
“Non-revenue athletes have access to the same system that revenue athletes have…. Perhaps at the schools Changeseeker taught, they werent so nervous about graduation rates as they might be at schools with an academic reputation equal to their athletic reputation.”
I don’t know about college policies in general, but I do know that I was (briefly) a non-revenue student athlete at a school whose academic reputation is easily equal to its athletic reputation (Stanford), and I had friends who were (female) student athletes for longer than I was. From what I could see, there were no support teams offering to do our schoolwork for us. And I was on scholarship (but an academic scholarship, not an athletic one). What was done with the football team, I don’t know, because I didn’t know any football players.
Stanford did, though, have some place that you could go to get a tutor for additional instruction if you were having trouble with a particular subject, such as math. This service was equally available to anyone (and didn’t go to the lengths of writing anyone’s paper), athlete or not, but it’s possible athletes, especially revenue-generating ones, would be more likely to be referred there, since they’d have coaches with a vested interest in having them not fail academically.
The only advice I remember getting from my coach involved setting up an exercise program at the gym.