Race, Social Capital, Adjustment, and Intercollegiate Athletics: The Opportunity to Improve Social Acclimation at Academic Institutions

ABSTRACT

Contemporary research suggests that there is a stratification of adjustment levels for collegiate students. Past scholars have found that ethnic minority students at predominantly White institutions have lower adjustment scores than White students. Further, ethnic minority student-athletes have lower levels of adjustment when on the campus at large, but interestingly they have shown higher levels of adjustment when in the team setting. These circumstances prompted the question: What impact does team social capital have on ethnic minority student-athletes’ adjustment variables? Over 1000 student-athletes were surveyed. Results of the study showed that team social capital is a mediator between race and adjustment. Thus, practical implications are such that athletic teams should consider extending the team concept to the campus environment as much as possible to increase the adjustment of their ethnic minority student-athletes and potentially mitigate some of the negative consequences of the lack of adjustment.

KEYWORDS:

• ethnic minorities
• inclusion
• social capital
• discrimination
• team building

Notes on contributors

Brent D. Oja, is a doctoral candidate in the department of Health, Sport, and Exercise Sciences at the University of Kansas. His research interests include organizational behavior processes of sport organizations and sport sociology topics. He is particularly interested in the attitudes and behaviors of sport employees.

Aaron W. Clopton, is an Associate Professor of Sport Management at the University of Kansas. He is also the director of the Laboratory for the Study of Sport Management. His research agenda is focused on the impact of sport on social networks and organizations.