Virginia Tech Student-Athletes’ Involvement with Student-Athlete Development and Their Future Success after College

TR Number

Date

2021-12-08

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Virginia Tech

Abstract

This project determines the ways in which the office of Student–Athlete Development (SAD) helped Virginia Tech (VT) football players to be successful in life after college athletics and allows for a better understanding of football student-athletes’ involvement within the (SAD) department. SAD is a resource provided to student-athletes that assists athletes in their career choices and develops a plan for life after college. Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) was the theoretical framework used during the study. During the research, qualitative interviews were conducted with former VT football players. After the interviews were conducted, they were transcribed and coded which helped to establish common themes. Four themes emerged including: time difficulties/opportunities missed: participation in SAD/lack of attention to SAD: knowing the role of SAD: and participants’ recommendations. The results showed that the SCCT was an effective theoretical framework to support the research purpose provided. Recommendations for SAD involving student-athletes include improving communication, mandating events, and improving partnership with the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). The limitations include personal bias, only using one university and sport, small response rate, and invalid responses.

Description

Keywords

Citation