Using a Card Selection Task to Understand Black Women Student Athletes’ Identities

• In Event: A Methodological Renaissance: Expanding Intersectional Approaches for Black Girls in Education

Abstract

Purpose
Within the world of sports, the passing of Title IX served as a promise for increased athletic participation for girls and women. However, over 50 years later, Black women student athletes are still waiting to reap the benefits of this landmark decision (Dees, 2007; Pickett et al., 2012; Rhoden, 2012). Today, Black women still represent only about 10% of women athletes across all Divisions (NCAA, 2020). This historical exclusion of Black women within athletics has had direct implications for the daily lived experiences of current Black women student athletes.

Theoretical Framework
This study utilized the Phenomenological Variant of Ecological Systems Theory (PVEST) to explore the relationship between stressors, coping, and identity for Black women student athletes (Spencer et al., 1997). In particular, a narrative approach was used to better understand how various socialization practices, and environmental factors shaped Division I Black women student athletes’ identities from early childhood into emerging adulthood. The study was guided by two main research questions: How are Division I Black women student athletes’ identities shaped by the people with whom they interact and the experiences they have in childhood, adolescence, and emerging adulthood?, and How do Black women student athletes’ identities impact the way they navigate major challenges in their lives?

Methods and Data Sources
Participants included 11 Division I Black women student athletes from a public university in the southeastern United States. Each participant completed a single 60-to-75-minute semi-structured interview as well as a short demographic survey. The interview protocol was intentionally designed in a way that centered on their experiences as Black women student athletes. To understand what identities were most central and salient, each Black women student athlete began the interview by completing a card selection task where they selected the five identities that were “most important to they thought about themselves.” Once identified, they engaged in a conversation with the interviewer about how they viewed themselves and how society viewed them, and how different systems of power intersected to impact their daily lived experiences.

Findings and Discussion
Data were analyzed using narrative analysis, which allowed individual meaning making to be centered within the contest of PVEST (Kim, 2015; Lieblich et al., 1998; Spencer et al., 1997). The specific narratives of 3 Black women student athletes' are shared to highlight how their coping processes and emergent identities evolve throughout their development. Each narrative illustrates how the supports and challenges in each athlete’s environment were connected to the coping methods they used and the emergent identities they developed. Through their narratives, we saw that Black women’s student athletes' identities: 1) shifted when major stressful events occurred, 2) were developed and renegotiated with the guidance of their support networks, and 3) were unique and excited beyond the bounds of being Black women student athletes. Challenges that impact all eleven women’s identity development included being the only one, being underestimated, and being injured. Overall results highlighted the heterogeneity in development and the importance of individual meaning-making in the development process.

Author

• Miray Seward, American Camp Association