Reproducing Sports Stars: How Students Become Elite Athletes

• In Event: 69.051 - Exploring the Intersection of "Athletic" and "Academic"

Abstract

This paper explores the cultural and social forces that influence how individuals access higher education through school-sponsored athletic programs. Using multiple sources of data—interviews, institutional reports, and an original dataset—the project maps out the structures, hierarchies, demands, and identities that shape one’s life-path to elite athletics. Research and analysis is guided by social reproduction theory (Bowles & Gintis, 1976; Bourdieu, 1977) to explain how geography, class, race, and gender impact access to college sports. In doing so, the paper questions whether sports provide alternative pathways for marginalized groups to higher education. Preliminary findings suggest that students from rich-resource communities have greater access to the sports-track-to-college.

Authors

• Kirsten Michelle Hextrum, The University of Oklahoma

• Suyang Lu, University of California - Berkeley