Impact of ICTs on College Student Athletes
Alongside two additional researchers, we remotely conducted a mixed-methods study exploring the life of college student athletes and their use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) as they plan their transition from student life to life after graduation. We found that previous work focused on a systems perspective whereas this study primarily took a human-centered approach. We discussed ICTs as transition mediaries for college athletics programs to improve the holistic student athlete experience, under the premise that only 1% of college student athletes go on to make monetary compensation for their respective sport.
iConference 2018 Poster
Preliminary Work
We identified literature and research that investigated how student athletes used ICTs to leverage their athletic performance. However, we identified a gap in work surrounding how ICTs can be used to leverage opportunities in academic and professional development.
Research Questions
RQ1: How do ICTs enable information seeking practices of student athletes?
RQ 2: What routines manifest among student athletes and their ICT use?
RQ 3: How are student athletes using ICTs to plan their long-term goals?
Methods
Recruitment
We employed a multitude of ways to recruit participants for our study with direct department outreach, social media solicitation, and distributing promotional material. We also utilized snowball sampling, asking participants if they had peers who could participate in our study, to recruit.
Data Collection
We created an interview protocol and conducted in-person semi-structured interviews with participants. These interviews were audio-recorded and gave us the opportunity to probe follow-up questions.
Data Analysis
Following the completion of interviews, we thematically analyzed the data after transcribing them. Through a thematic analysis of interviews with student athletes, we uncover factors that affect ICT use in both their athletic and academic environments. We identified emerging themes from an under-researched population.
Recruitment Flyer
Results
RQ1: We examined how ICTs expand their ability to seek information.
RQ2: We uncovered routines of ICT use among student athletes.
RQ3: We unpacked the role of ICTs and their influence on long-term goals.
We observed how ICTs are being used as an integral part of a student athlete’s daily routine, both on and off the field, as a means for seeking social support and making life choices. Student athletes may have less time to devote to preparing for the transition out of college and into the job market in comparison to their non-athlete counterparts, and thus have much to gain by employing ICTs as transition mediaries for mapping out critical life choices.
View iConference 2019 slide deck here