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UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI

THE CAREER PATH EXPERIENCE FOR DIVISION 1 FOOTBALL STUDENT-ATHLETES

By

Alexandria Ford

A DISSERTATION

Submitted to the Faculty of the University of Miami

in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education

Coral Gables, Florida

August 2021

©2021 Alexandria Ford

All Rights Reserved

UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

Doctor of Education

THE CAREER PATH EXPERIENCE FOR DIVISION 1 FOOTBALL STUDENT-ATHLETES

Alexandria Ford

Approved: __________________ _____________________ Joseph Kitchen, Ph.D. Carol-Anne Phekoo, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Educational Associate Clinical Professor of Educational and Psychological Studies and Psychological Studies ________________ __________________ Soyeon Ahn, Ph.D. Guillermo Prado, Ph.D. Professor of Educational Dean of the Graduate School and Psychological Studies _____________ Susan Mullane, Ph.D. Professor of Kinesiology and Sport Sciences

FORD, ALEXANDRIA (Ed.D., Higher Education Leadership) (August 2021)

The Career Path Experience For Division 1 Football Student-Athletes. Abstract of a dissertation at the University of Miami. Dissertation supervised by Professor Joseph Kitchen. No. of pages in text. (132)

The NCAA (2013) reports that fewer than 2% of college student-athletes are

called up to the ranks of professional athletes. Thus, the overwhelming majority of

student-athletes face the prospect of choosing a career objective other than that of

professional athlete. However, the literature suggests that student-athletes are not

prepared to enter the traditional workforce (Murphy et al., 1996). While these athletes

are often granted priority course scheduling to help them balance arduous competition

with academic demands, the typical programs and resources at most universities may not

be enough to help them navigate their career paths. Little research exists on the

experiences of college athletes as they navigate their careers and develop their career

path. The purpose of this study was to explore the career path experience of Division 1

student-athletes and the factors that can help or hinder navigation of their career path. Of

particular interest to the study was the career path experience of Division 1 football

players. Framed by Super’s (1950) career development theory, the study sought to

answer the following research questions: (a) What was the career path experience like for

Division 1 football student-athletes? and (b) What factors helped or hindered navigation

of their career path?

The goal of this research was to gain insight into what support is needed for

Division 1 football student-athletes who are navigating their career path. Study

participants were junior- and senior-level Division 1 football student-athletes who were

navigating their career paths at a medium-sized, private, Division 1 institution in the

South. The study used a phenomenological methodology in which each participant was

interviewed to obtain a subjective account of their lived career path experience. This

study suggested that Division 1 football student-athletes are aware of the importance of

preparing for their lives beyond their intercollegiate careers.

From the shared stories of participant student-athletes, three themes emerged: (a)

Alternative Career Path Planning, (b) Competing Time Demands Hinder Career

Preparation, and (c) Social Support Assists Career Path Navigation. In the theme

Alternative Career Path Planning, study This study suggested that Division 1 football

student-athletes are aware of the importance of preparing for their lives beyond their

intercollegiate careers.

From the shared stories of participant student-athletes, three themes emerged: (a)

Alternative Career Path Planning, (b) Competing Time Demands Hinder Career

Preparation, and (c) Social Support Assists Career Path Navigation. In the theme

Alternative Career Path Planning, study participants voiced that they were conscious of

their career options and aware of the unlikely probability of becoming a professional

football player, so they knew they would eventually need to pursue an alternative career.

With regard to the second theme, Competing Time Demands Hinder Career Preparation,

the participating football student-athletes disclosed that the time demands of football

were a hindrance to their career path navigation because the time demands made it

arduous for them to fully invest in navigating their career path and pursuing their career

goals while in college. The final theme, Social Support Assists Career Path Navigation,

revealed that social support aided the football student-athletes’ navigation of their career

path by providing them with both informational support and emotional support.

This study has various implications for stakeholders. For example, higher

education personnel (e.g., athletic administrators, academic advisors, and career center

employees) can use information about athletes’ career path experiences to guide practices

for connecting student-athletes to appropriate major and career resources. This study

could also contribute to an understanding of the career path experience for Division 1

football student-athletes.

iii

Acknowledgements

Thank you to my dissertation committee members: Dr. Kitchen, Dr. Phekoo, Dr.

Mullane, and Dr. Ahn for your unwavering support and patience throughout this journey.

Thank you to my cohort, for always being an ear to listen when I was stressed and for

encouraging me to persist. Danny your check-ins were clutch!

I am forever grateful to the eight participants that volunteered their time and

experiences. They made time, in their already busy schedules, to share their experiences.

It is my belief that each of them is on their way to do amazing things and break the

negative stereotypes that are attached to football student-athletes.

A huge thank you to my family and friends. Mom, Dad, and Cameron, I

appreciate your unconditional love and appreciate you being by my side throughout this

journey. Lewis, you are a unicorn. You inspired me to do this and were with me every

step of the way, thank you. I love you all.

Finally, I dedicate my dissertation to my fiancé, David. God truly blessed me

when he put you in my life. Through the ups and downs of this journey you supported

me and guided me. I especially appreciated our trips to the beach so that I could catch

my breath. Your patience and ability to put me at ease is unmatched. I love you and look

forward to spending the rest of my life with you.

iv

Table of Contents Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................................ 1

Research Questions .............................................................................................................. 13

Theoretical Framework ........................................................................................................... 13

Rationale for Methodology .................................................................................................. 15

Significance of the Study ..................................................................................................... 16

Limitations ............................................................................................................................ 19

Organization of the Study ................................................................................................... 20

Chapter 2: Literature Review ..................................................................................................... 22

The Student-Athlete Experience ............................................................................................. 25

College Sport Participation ................................................................................................... 25

Athletic Identity Development............................................................................................... 30

Career Development ................................................................................................................ 33

Career Development Studies ................................................................................................. 33

Career Maturity and Career Expectations ........................................................................... 36

Student-Athlete Transition ................................................................................................... 38

Institutional Services for Student-Athletes ............................................................................ 40

National Collegiate Athletic Association.............................................................................. 40

Major/Career Advising ......................................................................................................... 43

Theoretical Foundation ........................................................................................................... 47

Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 49

Chapter 3: Methodology .............................................................................................................. 51

Participant Selection and Setting........................................................................................ 52

Table 1 Participant Chart ..................................................................................................... 56

Demographic Questionnaire and Interview Protocol ....................................................... 57

Validation, Trustworthiness, and Transferability ............................................................ 58

Data Collection Procedures ................................................................................................. 60

Data Analysis Procedures and Presentation of Results .................................................... 62

Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 65

Chapter 4: Results........................................................................................................................ 67

Theme 1: Alternative Career Path Planning: “... if football didn't work, then I always had my plan B.” ............................................................................................................................... 69

Theme 2: Competing Time Demands Hinder Career Preparation: “Football is making my academics a lot harder than it would be if I wasn't playing.” ....................................... 72

Theme 3: Social Support Assists Career Path Navigation: “Not feeling like I'm on my own making a decision is something that's really helpful for me.” ..................................... 75

v

Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 80

Chapter 5: Discussion .................................................................................................................. 82

Study Findings .......................................................................................................................... 82

Relationship of Findings to Prior Research ........................................................................... 86

Alternative Career Path Planning ........................................................................................ 86

Competing Time Demands Hinder Career Preparation ...................................................... 91

Social Support Assists Career Path Navigation ................................................................... 93

Implications for Practice, Research, and Theory .................................................................. 96

Implications for Practice ...................................................................................................... 97

Implications for Research ................................................................................................... 100

Implications for Theory ...................................................................................................... 102

Study Limitations ................................................................................................................... 104

Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 106

References ................................................................................................................................... 108

Appendix A ................................................................................................................................. 118

Demographic Questionnaire and Interview Script ............................................................. 118

Demographic Questionnaire: ............................................................................................ 118

Interview Script .................................................................................................................. 118

Follow-Up Interview .............................................................................................................. 121

Appendix B ................................................................................................................................. 122

Initial Email to Athletic Department ........................................................................................ 122

Initial Email to Participants ................................................................................................. 123

Follow-Up E-Mail to Students who Respond to Recruitment Email with Interest to Participate ............................................................................................................................ 124

Appendix C ................................................................................................................................. 125

Recruitment Flyer .................................................................................................................... 125

Appendix D ................................................................................................................................. 126

IRB Approval Letter ................................................................................................................ 126

Appendix E ................................................................................................................................. 127

Participant Descriptions ........................................................................................................... 127

Appendix F ................................................................................................................................. 129

Themes and Categories with Quotes ........................................................................................ 129

Appendix G ................................................................................................................................. 131

Meaning Units .......................................................................................................................... 131

Example of Core Themes ......................................................................................................... 132

1

Chapter 1: Introduction

Higher education institutions have long intertwined athletics with their

institutional missions as athletics has increased, benefited, and “positively influenced”

higher education via “student recruitment, retention rates, and social development”

(Vanover & DeBowes, 2013). Athletic involvement, for spectators and players alike,

gives students of all backgrounds a shared experience to rally around and fosters a sense

of community through shared participation in unique traditions (Branch, 2011). More

specifically, for those participating in sport, “college sports provide an opportunity for

teaching people about character, motivation, endurance, loyalty, and the attainment of

one’s personal best — all great qualities of great value in citizens” (Duderstadt, 2000,

p.70). Athletics in higher education has had a long history in America; from its inception

in the 1850s to its current state, it has been shaped over time via cultural change,

progressive technology, and the establishment of the National Collegiate Athletic

Association (NCAA) in 1906 which subsidized the commercialization of intercollegiate

athletics (Vanover & DeBowes, 2013).

Athletics in higher education has evolved from intramural activities, focused on

staying physically fit, to a multibillion-dollar enterprise (Knight Commission on

Intercollegiate Athletics, 2009). Students once went to school solely for an education and

engaged in sports competitions in their spare time, but now student-athletes attend these

same universities with the main objective of participating in their sport (Miller, 2016).

Furthermore, playing college football is currently the only way to get drafted to play for

the National Football League (NFL) (Johnson & Acquaviva, 2015). Football players

must be in their third year of college or over the age of 21 to enter the NFL (Johnson &

2

Acquaviva, 2015). Now student-athletes devote many hours to sports-related activities

and end up becoming athletes first and students second (Miller, 2016), resulting in a

system that exploits student-athletes to generate millions of dollars for both the NCAA

and its universities (Miller, 2016). With respect to football, during football season

millions of fans gather into football stadiums every Saturday, and tens of millions tune in

on television, earning the institution between $40 million and $80 million in profits a

year (Branch, 2011).

The NCAA is a “member-led organization dedicated to the well-being and

lifelong success of college athletes” (ncaa.org, para.1), whose mission is to make athletics

an integral part of the educational experience at all member schools (ncaa.org). Thus,

members are referred to as “student-athletes,” as they are both full-time students and

athletes at their respective institutions. The NCAA is currently organized into three

divisions: Division 1, Division 2, and Division 3. The three divisions were created in

1973 by the NCAA; each division was established to group compatible campuses in

terms of median undergraduate enrollment, scholarship opportunity, number of sports

offered to men and women, audience size, and academic requirements (NCAA, 2020a).

All three divisions are committed to both academics and athletics. However, Division 1

is generally the largest in terms of student body, athletic budgets, and number of

scholarships offered (NCAA, 2020a).

The opportunity for entering professional athletics, playing the sport

professionally outside of an institution and not as part of the NCAA, decreases outside of

Division 1 competition (Duderstadt, 2003). Most Division 2 and 3 student-athletes do

not make it to the professional level (Fuller, 2014). Division 2 offers scholarships, but

3

they are rarer and smaller, and Division 2 schools typically have fewer athletic

department funds and sports teams than Division 1 schools (NCAA, 2020a). Division 3

institutions do not issue athletic scholarships (NCAA, 2020a) and, as a result, Division 3

institutions attract student-athletes who are not necessarily fueled by a desire to play

professionally but are rather motivated by their passion for a sport and tend to focus on

other areas of interest aside from academics and athletics, such as non-athletic

extracurricular activities (NCAA, 2020a). Ultimately, the “differences among the

divisions emerge primarily in how schools choose to fund their athletics programs and in

the national attention they command” (NCAA, 2020a, para.6).

Although the NCAA focuses on both academics and athletics, fewer than 2% of

student-athletes will become professional athletes—meaning that during college a major

transition occurs for many athletes in which they focus on becoming a working

professional rather than a professional athlete after college (NCAA, 2013; Tarver, 2020).

The low probability of becoming a professional player has long been recognized in

higher education, and due to this fact the Knight Commission, in 1991, advocated for

more faculty involvement in reforming intramural athletics and promoted a balance

between athletics and academics. As a result, faculty have assumed a more prominent

role in governing intercollegiate athletics (Knight Commission on Intercollegiate

Athletics, n.d.). Furthermore, the American work force has been characterized by two

major trends: rising unemployment rates and fierce competition for employment in a

global economy (Savickas et al., 2009; Gould & Kassa, 2020). Due to these employment

trends, the American higher education system has an increased responsibility to prepare

4

students for prosperity in their selected disciplines, including those student-athletes who

will need to pursue careers outside of professional sports (Savickas et al., 2009).

As a result of the low probability of becoming professional players, student-

athletes in higher education experience a major change or transition in their junior and

senior years as they move out of their sport and begin to feel pressured by societal

expectations (Covington, 2017). Super (1990) referred to this major change or transition

as the “lifecycle” and suggested “the simultaneous combination of life roles constitutes

the life-style; their sequential combination structures the life space and constitutes the

lifecycle” (p. 288). The stages of the lifecycle include growth, exploration,

establishment, maintenance, and decline, and an individual such as a student-athlete can

(and will) re-cycle through these stages throughout their life (Super, 1990). Thus, the

lifecycle of a college student-athlete’s involvement in a sport begins when they first

become involved in their sport during childhood and ends when they are no longer

competing in that sport (Price, 2016). For instance, for college student-athletes playing

football, junior or senior year is the time when they first become eligible for the draft

(NFL, 2020) and learn whether they will become professional athletes after graduation.

This could be an example of the exploration stage as the student-athletes begin to make

tentative choices about their career based on their eligibility and experiences.

Recognizing that most college student-athletes will enter the workforce outside of

professional sports, the NCAA launched a media campaign in 2007 that emphasized the

importance of an athletic and academic balance for a successful collegiate experience and

post-graduation career (NCAA, 2007). The tagline for the NCAA’s Public Service

Announcement stated, “There are over 380,000 student-athletes, and most of us go pro in

5

something other than sports” (NCAA, 2007, p.1). That statement is especially true for

the most popular sport in the United States: football (Das, 2020). The NCAA, for

instance, reported in 2019 that there were 254 draft picks for professional football, 249

from Division 1, 5 from Division 2, and none from Division 3 (NCAA, 2020a). One

reason this study focuses on Division 1 football player student-athletes is because they

compose the overwhelming majority of candidates drafted by the NFL among all three

divisions. This is evidenced not only by the most recent data, but also by historical data.

For instance, in the 2018 NFL draft the previous year, only 232 of 16,346 (.01%) eligible

Division 1 college football athletes were drafted (NCAA, 2019c). The fact that Division

1 football has professional playing opportunities as a viable career option has been noted

in previous research to hinder student-athlete career development (McCormick, 2014).

Since Super (1990) found that student-athletes go through a major lifecycle

change during college, and the NCAA statistics show that many football student-athletes

do not become professional athletes as they intended when they first chose their Division

1 institution, these NCAA football players need appropriate college support and

preparation to successfully navigate their career paths outside of professional football.

Unfortunately, research indicates that student-athletes are not well-equipped for

navigating those career paths (Navarro, 2015; Reardon, 2018). For example, student-

athletes can be inhibited by both identity foreclosure (early commitment to an identity

without the exploration of its individualized value or possible alternative identities) and

by a high athletic identity (the extent to which someone identifies with the athlete role)

(Brewer et al., 2017; Marcia, 1966; Murphy et al., 1996). This makes it difficult for the

football student-athlete who has a strong athletic identity to embrace aspects of their

6

identity that involve a career path outside of football. It may be challenging for them to

1) understand that they may not become a professional athlete as may have been their

intended goal, and 2) determine how to navigate or choose a career path based in

academics in order to enter the professional workforce.

Research indicates that many student-athletes, especially Division 1 football

student-athletes, believe they will work as professional athletes after college (Brewer et

al., 2017; Murphy et al., 1996), which is another reason this study focuses on Division 1

football student-athletes. Because of their belief that they will have a professional career,

the intersection of their student identity and athletic identity presents a challenge for

Division 1 football student-athletes to conceive aspirations, set realistic goals, and plan

for their future careers. Division 1 football is a highly commercialized sport whereby

intense societal and cultural factors cultivate a strong athlete identity that is known to

impact the career development process (McCormick, 2014). Division 1 football players

experience various overlapping socialization processes, including socialization into raced

roles and socialization into college and team communities (Brewer et al., 2017; Murphy

et al., 1996). As this population is socialized into the role of college student-athlete, the

high demands on their time and resulting frequent isolation from the general (nonathlete)

student body may make both their role as athlete particularly salient, and other college

athletes an especially influential peer group (Adler & Adler, 1985, 1991). Student-

athletes are challenged with the need to balance their academic, athletic, and social

obligations and expectations while still representing the university and achieving

academic and social requirements and milestones.

7

Student-athletes, like their nonathlete peers, must achieve academic and social

requirements and milestones. These requirement and milestones include maintaining

their grade point average, earning the minimum number of credit hours per year,

obtaining a degree, graduating, maintaining personal conduct both on and off the field,

and practicing self-discipline. Often, student-athletes’ achievement of these requirements

and milestones is a point of concern for higher education practitioners, coaches, and

student-athletes. The concern with student-athletes achieving these requirements and

milestones is especially problematic because for major revenue sports, such as football,

Division 1 programs have been accused of lowering academic requirements for student-

athletes, which ultimately harms student-athletes (Navarro, 2014; Ripath, 2017).

Nonetheless, Division 1 football coaches and athletic administrators are

compelled to produce winning teams due to external influences such as multimillion-

dollar television contracts that have amplified the commercialization of college sports

(Croissant, 2001). This is distinct from Division 2 and 3, where the value is found in

simply competing in sports, rather than on generating revenue or creating events for

spectators (NCAA, 2018). Consequently, the media portray Division 1 athletic

departments as systems that exploit student-athletes for their athletic skills and do not

support meaningful career development during college (Fountain & Finley, 2011; Renick,

1974; Suggs, 2003; Thelin, 1994). Research proposes that the commercialization of

Division 1 sports, particularly football, creates the perception that the purpose of a

student-athlete's undergraduate degree is to maintain eligibility, instead of being

something that prepares the student-athlete for a meaningful career in life after sports

(Navarro, 2015; Reardon, 2018). In fact, research shows that student-athletes in revenue

8

sports often neglected to develop viable career plans at the culmination of their college

experience (Navarro, 2014). This supports that more emphasis is placed on playing

professional sports than on developing career plans for life after sports, despite the fact

that only .01% of eligible Division 1 college football athletes were drafted by the NFL in

2018 (Cox et al., 2009; NCAA, 2015; NCAA, 2019). This is a higher education problem

that warrants deeper understanding and reform, supporting the significance of this

research study.

These issues call attention to whether colleges and universities are appropriately

helping student-athletes prepare for fulfilling careers after college, which is the direct

mission and purpose of the NCAA and the academic institution that the student-athlete

attends. All Division 1 institutions are mandated by the NCAA to offer life skills

programming for student-athletes (NCAA News, 2003; NCAA, 2019b). Universities

therefore do have programs such as CHallenging Athletes Minds for Personal Success

(CHAMPS)/Life Skills, which was created to support the student-athlete development

initiatives of NCAA member institutions, and to enhance the quality of the student-

athlete experience within the context of higher education through a balance of academics,

athletics, personal development, and career development. However, research suggests

those institutions are not providing adequate support and preparation due to practices

such as academic clustering (Comeaux & Crandall, 2019; Navarro, 2014; Anderson,

2021). For instance, in Covington’s (2017) exploration of student-athletes’ transition out

of college, and Robert Rader’s (2019) similar study of student-athletes’ first five years

following graduation, participants reported struggling with their career path navigation

and needing more support from the institution in order to enter the workforce as a

9

professional, especially if the student-athlete did not become a professional athlete. The

researchers recommended that colleges be more responsive to individual student-athletes’

diverse needs regarding career path exploration, rather than implementing a generic

standard of assistance based on expediency and simplicity in order to improve graduation

rates (Covington, 2017; Rader, 2019).

Purpose of the Study

Despite the growing work in the area of student-athlete career development,

additional research is needed to better understand what the career path experience is like

for Division 1 football student-athletes and the factors that help or hinder student-

athletes’ career path navigation. This study was conducted to contribute to the need for

qualitative exploration of the experiences of Division 1 football student-athletes who are

navigating their career paths. Qualitative research allows deeper exploration of a

phenomenon, in this case elements of the football student-athlete experience that shape,

influence, and define the career path experience, so that it can be better understood.

Tarver (2020) recommended a qualitative study be conducted asking former student-

athletes to revisit their participation in the career development process as it relates to non-

playing careers. Thus, more research is needed to describe the phenomenon and

understand the factors that affect these students’ career path experience. A deeper

understanding of this phenomenon will inform the creation and implementation of

practices that support Division 1 student-athletes’ career path experiences more

effectively. Rader (2019) similarly recommended more qualitative research be done, as it

can delve deeper into the students’ experiences to define the factors impacting the

student-athlete's career path experience.

10

The purpose of this study was to explore how junior- and senior-level Division 1

football student-athletes describe their career path experience at a medium-sized, private,

Division 1 institution in the South. This study focused on junior- and senior-level

student-athletes because by their junior or senior year student-athletes would be able to

give a detailed account of their career path experience, be more likely to know if they

have any prospect of being drafted, and be more familiar with the support that is

accessible on campus (Sturm, 2016). This study focused on football because it’s the most

popular sport in the United States, it is a major revenue producing sport for universities,

and because Division 1 athletic programs, including football, have lowered their

academic requirements for student-athletes, which harms these students (Das, 2020;

Navarro, 2014; Ripath, 2017; Thelin, 2018). Accordingly, the support resources and

educationally sound engagement opportunities that institutions afford their student-

athletes are garnering increasing levels of public attention and questioning (Comeaux,

2011; Comeaux & Crandall, 2019). Recently, NCAA President Emmert (2014) asserted:

Division 1 Board and I are searching for solutions to ensure that student-athletes

maintain a better balance between academics and athletics with an emphasis on

dedicating additional time to academic pursuits to promote their success once

their playing days are over (para. 46).

Universities invest many financial resources into the football student-athlete's success,

but there is evidence that university programs are underserving and under preparing this

population for their career path experience (Branch, 2011; Covington, 2017). Therefore,

their experiences are worth studying. While there are many popular revenue-generating

sports in higher education, the current study focused on one sport, football, as a sample

11

sport in an effort to keep the participants comparable in their experience, rather than

mixing up players from multiple sports. Keeping the participants comparable in their

experience satisfies a prerequisite for a phenomenological study; this prerequisite is

called homogenous sampling (Moustakas, 1994). For a sample to be homogenous, the

participants must have an experience in common (Moustakas, 1994). Furthermore, a

phenomenological approach was employed because the subject of this study required

exploration to identify factors that affect and shape the career path experience.

Qualitative approaches help decipher social meaning to understand how the perspective

of the individual impacts individual behavior, so that a rich and complex understanding

of a specific phenomenon can be gained (Creswell, 2013). To understand the career path

experience of Division 1 football student-athletes, interviews were conducted with

NCAA Division 1 college student-athletes who competed in football at their university.

A primary goal of this study was to help inform strategic recommendations for

higher education professionals who work with the Division 1 college football student-

athlete population and to enable universities to meet their student-athletes’ career needs

more successfully. By better meeting those needs, universities can better prepare student-

athletes to achieve successful careers (outside of being an athlete) via the academic

training they have earned while at university; this is a core mission common to all higher

education institutions (Vanover & DeBowes, 2013). While student-athletes may depend

more on support services internal to athletic departments, it is still significant to provide

student and academic affairs professionals with empirical research related to career

development and issues that could result from misaligning students’ undergraduate

12

majors and career ambitions, because these administrative groups also have an impact on

the student-athletes’ higher education experience (Navarro, 2015).

The findings from this study: Alternative Career Path Planning, Competing Time

Demands Hinder Career Preparation, and Social Support Assists Career Path Navigation,

also can provide insight for current college student-athletes, most of them navigating a

career path they may never have seriously envisioned. Furthermore, since most student-

athletes will not have careers as professional athletes, it is important to investigate their

career path experience so that stakeholders (higher education practitioners, counselors,

coaches, mentors, etc.) may gain insights on the factors that help or hinder student-

athletes’ successful alternative career path planning and navigation. To be clear,

alternative career path planning in this study is defined as a planned path that the students

could fall back on if their first path did not work.

As job competition increases, the demand for distinctive and deliberate career

preparation has become even more valuable throughout America (Savickas, 2002, 2005).

Student affairs professionals should reevaluate the challenges and needs of their students

who today must prepare to go from college to a career (Kidwell, 2005; Reason,

Terenzini, & Domingo, 2006). To do this, student affairs professionals must work in

concert with undergraduate academic programs on campuses not only to provide

meaningful academic training in support of students’ undergraduate academic major

coursework, but also to assist students in fostering transferrable lifelong skill sets

(Navarro, 2015). This balance is imperative so that students can find and maintain

employment opportunities in an unstable and aggressive job market (Savickas, 2005).

13

Their preparation for life after college as meaningful contributors to society is essential as

that is at the core of the purpose and mission of higher education institutions.

Research Questions

To achieve the purpose and aims of this study, the overarching research questions

were: (a) What was the career path experience like for Division 1 football student-

athletes? and (b) What factors helped or hindered navigation of their career path?1

Theoretical Framework

Donald E. Super is the author of one the most distinguished and well-respected

career development theories widely recognized by career development professionals.

While his theory was initially framed in the early 1950’s, Super’s theory has been

significant in the area of career development and his work has been broadly tested,

expanded, revised, and refined for use today. Super’s (1950, 1957, 1990) career

development theory, described in detail in the literature review, informs the current study.

Super (1957) suggests that individuals endure various stages of life and developmental

periods that he segments into five phases: growth, exploration, establishment,

maintenance, and decline. Each stage has a different goal, ranging from developing self-

concepts, exploring, establishing traits, re-exploration, and re-establishment.

Additionally, Super (1990) regarded the time spent in college as a vital period in

which students are granted the opportunity to investigate and discover potential career

paths. With respect to student-athletes, they lack the full opportunity to develop specific

tasks in the developmental stages. For example, the growth stage is important to student-

1 The original research questions were: (a) What was the career transition experience like for Division 1 football student-athletes? and (b) What factors helped or hindered their career transition experience? This was modified because the finding, Alternative Career Path Planning, revealed that the population was not experiencing a career transition; therefore, the study could not provide a definition of the career transition experience.

14

athletes because depending on when the student-athlete began participating in athletics,

this stage can be delayed. Having a delay in this stage could be hindering because of the

tasks that are included which are creating a realistic self-concept and learning to relate to

others. The exploration stage is relevant to student-athletes because if there is lack in

exploring interests such as course selection or building a skillset, then there could be a

delay in developing and exercising autonomy. Another example is the establishment

phase, without which student-athletes miss out on establishing a start in a chosen field.

This chosen field could be an internship or a part-time employment position.

Furthermore, Super (1957) linked individuals’ ability to progress through the

career development process to their career maturity. He theorized that career maturity

incorporates age-appropriate mindsets with career planning and career exploration, as

well as an understanding of the workforce and career decision-making (Super, 1957). He

defined career maturity using five scopes: “planfulness” or awareness of the need to plan,

readiness for exploration, informational competence (comprising knowledge about work,

occupations, and life career roles), decision-making skills, and reality orientation (Super,

1957). Super (1950) acknowledged that individuals may recycle some phases of the

career development process, which raises the question of what happens when a student-

athlete has the realization that he or she is not going to play professional sports, even

though his or her career aspirations originally targeted that path. This concept of

recycling through the stages is applicable to year of professional eligibility as well. The

results of a study done by Tarver (2020) revealed that as year of eligibility increased,

career maturity increased; even more so if there was at least a two-year difference in

eligibility: “Super’s theory supports the belief that student-athletes originally exhibiting

15

lower levels of career maturity would see gradual increases in career maturity due to the

sudden necessity of having to engage in the career development process” (Tarver, 2020,

p.10). Using Super’s theoretical framework, this study employed phenomenological

methods to explore and describe the career path experience of Division 1 football

student-athletes.

Rationale for Methodology

The purpose of this study was to explore the career path experiences of college

football student-athletes. A qualitative methodology was employed because it is ideal for

use in understanding an individual’s subjective account of an experience, like the career

path experience for Division 1 football student-athletes (Denzin & Lincoln, 2018).

Additionally, qualitative methodology permits a more thorough inquiry of a phenomenon,

which for this study would be the football student-athlete experiences that shape,

influence, and define the career path experience, so that it can be better understood.

Specifically, a phenomenological approach was used because it focuses on explaining

what is happening based on describing the lived experience of all those who participate

(Moustakas, 1994). The phenomenon of this study was experienced by Division 1

football student-athletes as they navigated their career path; that path includes the factors

that helped or hindered that navigation.

The characteristics of a phenomenological study are described as follows: (a) the

phenomenon being researched is expressed as a single concept, (b) each participant has

experienced the phenomenon, (c) a comprehensive account of the phenomenon emerges

from the data, and (d) interviews are used as a typical form of data collection (Van

Manen, 2014). Snowball sampling is employed as one of the means of recruitment since

16

it utilizes an “insider” in the population who may direct others “inside” this hard-to-reach

population to the opportunity to participate in the study (Creswell, 2013). The data

analysis is orderly, beginning with a narrow scope, whose focus then widens so that the

“how” and “what” of the phenomenon can be deciphered (Moustakas, 1994). Unlike

other methodologies, the final report does not focus on cause and effect but instead uses

the voices of the participants to illuminate their interactions and the links between their

behaviors and insights (Moustakas, 1994). The goal of this research was to make sense

of the phenomenon of the lived experiences of college student-athletes navigating a

career path, which made a phenomenological qualitative method a suitable choice.

Significance of the Study

This phenomenological study is significant for practice because it was designed to

provide important insight about Division 1 football student-athletes’ career path

experiences and the factors that help or hinder navigation of those career paths. While

student-athletes of other sports may have similar socio-cultural experiences, the

researcher considered the Division 1 football student-athlete experience more radical and

as a result offers insightful evaluation. If more holistic student-athlete career

development recommendations can be produced for the Division 1 football student-

athlete population and prove to be helpful, factors for a more holistic student-athlete

career development program for all sports may be considered.

Information from this study could help improve the quality of the career path

experience by raising the awareness of athletic department administrators about the

necessity to encourage all student-athletes to use their campus career centers. There have

been perceptions among the public that student-athletes focus primarily on their athletic

17

sports, rather than on being responsible students (Comeaux, 2011). In addition, campus

career centers can become more proactive about providing career development programs

and services for student-athletes. Because most student-athletes will not have careers as

professional athletes, it is crucial that while in college they consider and investigate all

post-graduation career path options so that they may enter the workforce prepared.

Student-athletes tend to lack co-curricular involvement which can pose a barrier for

athletes to gather "information and experiences" that can shape their careers post-

graduation (Bjornsen & Dinkel, 2017). Current university programs to prepare students

for life after sports seem to be underserving and underpreparing them for their career

paths (Miller & Buttell, 2018; Navarro, 2014; Stout, 2018). Miller and Buttell (2018)

stated, “There is a need for the NCAA to encourage athletic departments to provide

exiting student-athletes with a retirement planning psycho-educational intervention to

enhance a resilient transition from a life of competitive athletics into a life without elite

sport” (p. 54).

Additionally, professionals in higher education can use the information provided

in this study about Division 1 football student-athletes’ career path experiences to

develop resources or refer student-athletes to resources that are responsive to their needs.

By providing student-athletes with better resources, higher education professionals may

more successfully fulfill the mission of the academic institution and the NCAA, which is

to help student-athletes prepare for fulfilling careers after college. More specifically, this

study is significant to athletic administrators, academic advisors, faculty, and career

center employees. The information from this study could enhance their understanding of

the types of support needed by Division 1 student-athletes during their career path

18

experience. This study also provides insight to mentors that work with student-athletes,

who could be trained to connect student-athletes to institutional services like graduate

school opportunities. Additionally, this study provides the student-athletes themselves

with information about the career path experience, so that they may be better informed as

they make career decisions.

As noted, this study was a response to researchers’ recommendations for

qualitative inquiry into the career path experience, and the study should encourage further

research with Division 1 student-athletes in various sports. Research exists on career

maturity (which involves the student-athlete’s ability to make realistic and responsible

career decisions) and career identity of student-athletes, but there is scarcely anything on

the career path experience for Division 1 football student-athletes. Studies could also be

done on the phenomenon at Division 1 public institutions in various regions of the

country, considering contextual factors that may shape the career path experience such as

the psychosocial environment. Information from these studies would help identify career

path experiences that are both common and unique to particular college sport populations

so that higher education institutions can focus their career resources on their specific

student-athlete population. As limited theoretical frameworks exist for the career path

experience of student-athletes, this study adds to the literature explaining the nature of

this experience. Current study findings present a new perspective that extends Super’s

(1950) career development theory by zeroing in on the college student-athlete experience.

Study findings also could inform similar studies that use grounded theory methodology

toward developing a theoretical framework for the career path experience of student-

19

athletes, as well as quantitative studies to examine the broader applicability of the

findings.

Limitations

This study has at least four limitations. The first involves the sample: All

participants attended a private, research-intensive university in the South, so the data is

limited to that institution type and may or may not be transferable to other institutional

contexts. The second involves recruitment: In addition to using the football roster to

email a study invitation to prospective participants, the university’s athletic department

was also provided the recruitment request with information on the study as a source of

participant recruitment. This may have been moderately limiting because it may have

shaped the pool of participants in ways that could have influenced the results. However,

each participant volunteered, their identity was kept anonymous, and participants knew

that they were not required to answer any questions to which they objected. It is also

important to consider that student-athletes who had positive career path experiences may

be more likely to respond to the study invitation. Similarly, it is reasonable to consider

that student-athletes who had negative commentary about their career path experience

and/or were hesitant to speak about their career path experience may not have been as

responsive to the study invitation.

The third limitation involves a shift in focus: This study was originally

investigating the career transition experience of Division 1 football student-athletes and

shifted to focus on their career path experience. This was due to a study finding which

revealed that the population was not experiencing a career transition, so the study could

not offer a definition of the career transition experience. In a career transition one would

experience a change in career, which is not the case here since the student-athletes

20

already had alternative career plans and as a result were not changing their career goal.

Thus, the research question was amended respectively to reflect the career path

experience of Division 1 football student-athletes. In this way, the researcher was able to

focus on how they navigated their careers and developed their career path. A final

limitation is that the sample size was relatively small, which limits generalizability,

though that is not the purpose of qualitative methods (Moustakas, 1994). A prerequisite

for a phenomenological study is homogenous and criterion sampling, which narrows the

population and restricts the generalizability (Moustakas, 1994). Every effort was made

by the researcher for the final participant pool to be a diverse representation of Division 1

football student-athletes. Future researchers should explore other revenue-generating

Division 1 sports to see if similar themes arise.

Organization of the Study

Phenomenological writing has a highly structured approach with content

organized into specified chapters. This study was organized into five chapters.

Moustakas (1994) suggests organizing the study in a certain way, with part one titled

“Introduction and statement of topic and outline.” In the introduction, essential elements

of the research study were identified. It also included supportive literature that identified

the study’s background, disparities, problem, theoretical framework, purpose, and

significance. For part two, Moustakas (1994) recommends the literature review, which

will address the themes found in the literature related to the study. Some of the themes

representing key segments of the literature review are “the student-athlete experience,”

“career maturity,” and “institutional services for student-athletes.” Following

Moustakas’s (1994) recommendations, part three focuses on methodology. For this study

21

phenomenology was the methodology of choice and it is detailed in this part. Part four

discusses the results of the study. In this part, the interview themes are explored and

described. The final part focuses on the discussion and implications of the results. In this

part, the findings are summarized and recommendations for the future deliberated.

22

Chapter 2: Literature Review

The career decision-making process requires students to go through some

reflection that embraces their ideals (what is most important to them), the benefits of their

career choice, and the skills/education needed for their prospective career choice (Super,

1957, 1990). Student-athletes undergo this decision-making process, but because they

are both full-time students and full time athletes, they must negotiate between their

academics, practices, travel, and institutional obligations while making career decisions

(Broughton & Neyer, 2001; Covington, 2017; Watson & Kissinger, 2007). Since most

Division 1 athletes have ambitions to play professionally, for a Division 1 student-athlete

the career path often involves reconciling their original plans to pursue professional sport,

which would permit the continued adaptation of skills already acquired, with the fact they

will not become professional athletes in that sport and must consider an alternative career

(Cox et al., 2009; Foster & Huml, 2017). Ultimately, most student-athletes will not play

professionally (NCAA, 2013, 2019). Whether it is because their eligibility has expired or

they have suffered injuries or are no longer the best at their position, the time will come

when they will no longer be in sport and will need to consider an alternative career

(Stark, 2018). Therefore, understanding the career path process is valuable for all

students playing Division 1 sports since many of these players have ambitions to

participate in professional sport and the current programs in place are underpreparing

them for their career path.

Furthermore, the initial reality for all college athletes is that their chances of

turning pro are slim. Only about .01% of Division 1 college football players were drafted

to the NFL in 2018 (NCAA, 2019). According to the NCAA (2013, 2019c), fewer than

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2% of college student-athletes are called up to the ranks of professional athletes, with

98% of the selected athletes being from Division 1 (NCAA, 2020a). Of that 2%, only

1.5% become professional football players, 1.1% professional basketball players, and

9.1% professional baseball players (NCAA, 2013, 2019c). It is also important to note

that participating in college sport is the only way for football players to play in the NFL

(Johnson & Acquaviva, 2015). Football players must be in their third year of college or

over the age of 21 to be eligible to be selected for the NFL (Johnson & Acquaviva, 2015).

A less than 2% chance to be selected for the NFL draft is a startling measurement in light

of research suggesting that many student-athletes fail to explore careers and develop

other aspects of their identity because doing so would challenge their athletic identity and

vision of becoming a professional athlete (Brewer et al., 2017; Foster & Huml, 2017;

Good et al., 1993). The reality is that student-athletes in high profile sports, such as

football, identify more closely with successful athletic achievement rather than career

success (Cross & Fouke, 2019).

Additionally, with mounting unemployment rates and brutal competition for

employment in a global economy, today’s undergraduate students, including student-

athletes, are up against an incredibly competitive economic environment (Savickas et al.,

2009; Gould & Kassa, 2020). Higher education professionals are charged with more than

understanding the challenges and needs of a diverse student body; they must also prepare

students, including student-athletes, for productive lives (and careers) after higher

education (Long, 2012; Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics, n.d.).

Therefore, it is crucial for higher education professionals to better guide student-athletes

toward professions beyond going pro, since most will not be professional athletes and

24

may have not explored alternative career options (Knight Commission on Intercollegiate

Athletics, n.d.). Additionally, it is important for student-athletes to realize that they need

to prepare for careers outside professional sport because most will indeed need those

alternative careers since most will not be selected to play professionally (Tarver, 2020).

To better guide student-athletes' career path planning, higher education personnel must

carefully reflect on the relationship between the athletic identity of student-athletes and

their awareness of the requirements needed to make realistic career decisions (Foster &

Huml, 2017). Higher education personnel must also be mindful of the student-athlete

experience and current institutional services for student-athletes to improve the quality of

the student-athlete career path experience (Knight Commission on Intercollegiate

Athletics, 2018).

To balance its two-core ethics of promoting graduation and the educational value

of athletics participation, the NCAA has passed eligibility rules for competing in order to

help student-athletes be successful in the domains of academic performance and overall

college experience (NCAA, 2013, 2017). The passing of the eligibility rules caused an

increase in literature on the effect of participation in college sports on student learning

and personal development (Vanover & DeBowes, 2013). Research now exists related to

career maturity and career identity, as well as on career development for student-athletes,

but there is a gap in the literature regarding Division 1 football student-athlete career path

experiences (Tarver, 2020). This paper focuses on exploring the career path experience

of Division 1 football student-athletes and the factors that can help or hinder navigation

of that career path. This paper focuses on this phenomenon because current university

programs are underpreparing Division 1 football student-athletes for alternative careers

25

(Branch, 2011; Covington, 2017). Information from this study could be used to inform

deliberate recommendations for the higher education professionals who work with the

Division 1 football student-athlete population so that institutions may more effectively

prepare the student-athletes for their alternative careers.

In this chapter, literature related to the student-athlete experience in college sport

participation and to athletic identity development is synthesized, as those elements have

been identified as factors influencing student-athletes’ career path experience (Foster &

Huml, 2017; Tarver, 2020). Career development also is reviewed as it pertains to career

development studies, career maturity, and student-athlete transition. This information

provides a basis for understanding how research on the student-athlete experience has

progressed over time. Then Super’s (1950, 1990) career development theory is examined

as it applies to the phenomenon of the Division 1 football student-athletes' career path

experience. Finally, a summation of the literature review is produced that includes

implications for how the presented information relates to research, theory, and addressing

the problems of practice.

The Student-Athlete Experience

College Sport Participation

College athletics has historically been a key part of many higher education

institutions in the United States (Branch, 2011; Stubbs, 2020; Vanover & DeBowes,

2013). Over time its popularity has grown, the commercialization of college sports has

increased, and stakeholders have exploited the public’s interest with college sport

competitions (Covington, 2017; Reardon, 2018; Vanover & DeBowes, 2013). With

respect to college football, it became more popular in the period of 1920 –1940, when the

26

commercialization practices were being questioned (Johnson & Acquaviva, 2015). For

instance, in 1929 Howard Savage, a staff member of the Carnegie Foundation, asked

“whether an institution in the social order whose primary purpose is the development of

the intellectual life can at the same time serve an agency to promote business, industry,

journalism, and organized athletics on an extensive commercial basis? More importantly,

can it (the university) concentrate its attention on securing teams that win, without

impairing the sincerity and vigor of its intellectual purpose?” (Crowley, 1999, p.495).

The notion of paying student-athletes continues to be a highly debated topic

(Branch, 2011; Johnson & Acquaviva, 2015; Miller, 2016). The NCAA, the governing

body for college sports, does not view student-athletes as professionals or employees of

their collegiate institution, but rather as amateurs (Branch, 2011; Johnson & Acquaviva,

2015; Miller, 2016). Collegiate amateurism references that the student-athletes are not

financially compensated for their athletic services (Miller, 2016). Yet Johnson and

Acquaviva (2015) noted that Division 1 student-athletes do not receive a degree for their

efforts in the athletic arena and yet these institutions continue to enroll and sponsor

student-athletes based on their athletic talents. They claimed “universities routinely

admit students based on their athletic skills that are academically ill-prepared for

success,” and this results in student-athletes who wish to be successful academically

eventually losing motivation due to the time demands and pressures of competing in sport

(Johnson & Acquaviva, 2015, para. 53).

Unlike their nonathlete peers, Division 1 student-athletes are a population with

unique challenges and privileges (Comeaux, 2011; Van Raalte & Brewer, 2002). They

are granted priority scheduling, excused from classes for competitions and events, given

27

attention at competition sites and in the media, and often seen as icons for the higher

education institution (Comeaux, 2011; Getz & Siegfried, 2012). Division 1 student-

athletes experience unique challenges as they seek to manage their lives amidst a

schedule that can be seemingly unmanageable in comparison to nonathletes’ schedules

(Tarver, 2020). A study by Vaughn and Smith (2018) suggested that stress and anxiety

are standard for college students but augmented for Division 1 student-athletes who are

expected to maintain stricter academic progress and show highly competitive sports

skills. As college students, student athletes are obligated to enroll in classes, complete

specific requirements for graduation, and meet the minimal requirements for academic

success as determined and sanctioned by the NCAA if they are to continue participating

in athletics (NCAA, 2020a). The minimum requirements for academic success are the

completion of at least six progress toward degree credit hours per regular academic

semester, passing a minimum of 18 progress towards degree credit hours in an academic

year, and earning at least a 2.0 grade point average (GPA) by the end of their third year

(NCAA, 2020a). Student-athletes who do not meet the requirements are not eligible for

competition (NCAA, 2020a). As a result, academic curricula challenges student-athletes

(Comeaux, 2011).

Other qualities of student-athletes’ college experience are also different from their

non-athletic peers, such as diminished level of involvement in extracurriculars and

academic experiences (Stubbs, 2020). Of the three divisions, Division 1 and 2 student-

athletes reported the least engagement in extracurriculars (Coakley, 2011, 2017; Stubbs,

2020). However, many believe participating in sport enhances student-athletes’ personal

growth by teaching confidence, motivation, and self-esteem (Coakley, 2011, 2017;

28

Stubbs, 2020). Researchers of student-athletes advocate that sport participation functions

to make up for the lack of extracurricular and academic involvement by providing the

student-athlete with the opportunity for social interaction, expanded life experiences with

peers through shared experiences through involvement in sport, as well as the ability to

cope with failure and challenges on the field and the development of life skills such as

time management and teamwork that benefit their academics and future careers (Chen et

al., 2010; Coakley, 2011; Stubbs, 2020). Additionally, researchers have proposed that

student-athletes are more engaged in academic and campus activities such as pep rallies

and interactions with tutoring services than their nonathlete peers (Anderson, 2020;

Umbach et al., 2006). Such involvement also provides value to the lives of student-

athletes due to the experiences that they have had (Anderson, 2020; Stephan & Brewer,

2007).

However, this involvement can also limit student-athletes’ opportunities in their

academic experiences and extracurricular involvement due to the time demands of sport.

Adler and Adler (1987) studied the social relations of Division 1 student-athletes and

found that representing their campus may cause stress and encourage the student-athlete

to be significantly committed to their respective sport and less so to their academics. The

NCAA (2017) reported that Division 1 football players log the most hours in-season per

week in men’s sports, an average of 42 hours per week. Because they are dedicating so

much time in sport, their choices of major are limited; this illustrates the implication that

limited major choice limits the student-athlete’s future career path choices (Foster &

Huml, 2017; Wolverton, 2007). According to the NCAA’s (2018) Division 1 Diploma

Dashboard, Division 1 football athletes reported Business and Social Science as the two

29

most popular majors (NCAA, 2018). The lack of diversity in major choice reported by

the NCAA implies that there are limiting factors to student-athletes’ career path

experiences that result in limits on what majors are chosen. Such a limiting factor could

be the practice of clustering. Clustering is when more than 25% of the players are

enrolled into a single major, usually easier majors so that athletes can maintain NCAA

eligibility (Anderson, 2021; Comeaux & Crandall, 2019). Clustering is fairly widespread

among Division 1 sports, especially football (Fountain & Finley, 2011).

Limits on major choice, and in turn associated career paths, due to involvement in

college sports are not the only factors that affect student-athletes’ career path experience.

There are a host of other factors that can influence their career path experience: Student-

athletes are accountable for balancing academic and athletic responsibilities, dealing with

physical injury, coping with identity role conflict grounded in athletic involvement,

engaging in social and leisure interests not related to sport, building interpersonal

relationships, thinking through career transitions, and maintaining exceptional physical

shape (Foster & Huml, 2017; Pearson & Petitpas, 1990). The blend of these factors

contributes to the emotional, physical, or developmental challenges for student-athletes

(Foster & Huml, 2017; Pearson & Petitpas, 1990; Stubbs, 2020). In a study conducted by

Watson (2005), the participants revealed that while participation in intercollegiate

athletics is a worthwhile (valuable, they would do it again) experience, they also

experienced adjustment problems, emotional concerns, and psychological distress

because of their participation. Similar to their nonathlete peers, student-athletes have

stressors linked to their career path experience such as developing individual abilities and

identities, learning how to cultivate relationships, determining how to align their morals

30

with emerging ideals and ethics, and setting goals to help them reach a career (Yopyk &

Prentice, 2005). Seniors experience even more pressures due to the demands of

graduation, job placement, the transition into adulthood, and the unavoidable change and

sense of loss related to college coming to an end (Covington, 2017; Pistilli et al., 2003).

Due to these stressors, college student-athletes may have reduced time for academic and

career planning, putting them at a disadvantage when they exit higher education and start

to pursue their alternative careers (Adler & Adler, 1987; Foster & Huml, 2017).

Athletic Identity Development

The benefits of being a student-athlete and, more precisely, strongly identifying

as a student-athlete, come with costs. It has been suggested that many student-athletes

fail to explore and develop other aspects of their identity, including career identity

development (Brewer et al., 2017; Good et al., 1993;). Some student-athletes view career

development as a threat to their athletic identity and their dream of becoming a

professional athlete (Good et al., 1993; Brewer et al., 2017). For example, The likelihood

of an NCAA athlete earning a college degree has increased to 86 percent (NCAA,

2019a). However, student-athletes believe that there is a higher probability of them

achieving a professional sports career than obtaining a college degree (NCAA, 2019b).

As a result, student-athletes neglect to create an alternative plan in the event they do not

achieve success in their athletic pursuits. This neglect is intensified in the student-

athletes' perceptions of themselves and their future career potentials and opportunities

(Brewer et al., 2017). Between the pressure to do well and the schedule demands

pertaining to their sport and academics, student-athletes often view themselves as athlete-

students, with their athletic identity taking priority over their student identity due to their

31

identity role conflict (Fuller, 2014). This is a concern for most student-athletes since

most have not come to terms with the idea of not playing professionally (NCAA, 2018;

Thelin, 2018). Being an athlete and continuing on a professional athlete path is what they

always thought they would be doing, until their athletic prospects approach the end and

they need to prepare for graduation and what is next in their life (NCAA, 2018). Super

(1990) regarded the time spent in college as a vital period in which students, including

student-athletes, are granted the opportunity to investigate and discover potential career

paths. Brewer and Petitpas (2017) similarly suggested that exploration of potential career

paths offers student-athletes the experiences and information essential to make informed

decisions concerning their personal values, interests, and skills, as well as enables them to

develop coping strategies and confidence in their abilities to be successful in adult life

and their careers. However, because of their athletic identity (how strongly an individual

identifies as an athlete), many have difficulty using their time in college as an opportunity

to uncover potential career paths outside of professional sport (Foster & Huml, 2017;

Janosko, 2018); for Division 1 football student-athletes, 42 hours a week are logged in

sport (NCAA, 2017). Not having the time to explore potential career paths could present

as a challenge in the career path experience (Watson & Kissinger, 2007).

Athletic identity is relevant to understanding the career decision-making process

of college student-athletes. It can be deduced from the paragraph above that students

who identify strongly with their athletic persona are less likely to explore other career,

educational, and lifestyle options because of the level of their involvement in sports. The

time demands required make it difficult to explore their career options. Consequently, it

is vital to carefully consider the relationship between the athletic identity of student-

32

athletes and their career maturity (the ability to make realistic career decisions): “For

many former student-athletes, the challenge is not only learning how to stay fit in a new

lifestyle, but also coping with a new sense of loss. Some level of anxiety, sadness or

insecurity may be hard to avoid as they shed the athlete label—something they have worn

proudly over years of dedication to their sport” (NCAA, 2018, para.7).

Theorists like Arthur Chickering (1969) have offered proof that identity

development commences in childhood and evolves as a child grows through adolescence

into adulthood, which is around the time student-athletes are experiencing college. It is

understood that around late adolescence individuals are challenged with the task of

verifying their personal identity, answering the question: “Who am I?” (Chickering,

1969; Erikson, 1959). Chickering (1969) emphasizes “Seven Vectors” to describe the

total identity development of college students. According to the model, the first four

vectors (developing competence, managing emotions, moving from autonomy toward

interdependence, developing mature interpersonal relationships) are most applicable to

the first two years of college (Chickering, 1969). Vectors five and six (establishing

identity and developing purpose) are usually more relevant to the last two years for

college students and to the career path experience (Chickering, 1969). The fifth vector

highlights the establishment of identity and Chickering’s sixth vector focuses on

developing purpose. According to Chickering (1969), during the fifth and sixth vectors

college students begin to identify why they are earning their degree. He suggested

students not only determine the purpose of finding a career, making a wage, and

developing skills, but noted that the development of purpose moves further than that.

Through experiences in college, students realize what motivates them, and what they feel

33

to be most satisfying; from those realizations they will develop a purpose (Chickering,

1969). This point that through experiences in college students realize what motivates

them and develop their purpose would support the notion that student-athletes who

strongly identify as athletes (due to their athletic-identity) will struggle with exploring

career alternatives because their sense of purpose is rooted in sport (Bjornsen & Dinkel,

2017; Brewer et al., 2017; Janosko, 2018). Duderstadt (2009) argued that the conflicting

relationship between academic affairs and the student affairs division (which oversees

athletics) has been stressed for several years in response to the lack of importance placed

on the development of the student side of the student-athlete title. This suggests that

institutions perceive these individuals as athlete-student, not student-athlete, meaning

they see them as more of an athlete than a student. To support student-athletes, it is

recommended that higher education personnel be aware of the influence athletic identity

has on student-athletes’ career decision-making (Brewer et al., 2017; Taylor & Betz,

1983; Watson & Kissinger, 2007).

Career Development

Career Development Studies

It is important for individuals to be able to evaluate and carefully consider career

options (Cox et al., 2009; Janosko, 2018; Super, 1990). The consequences of career

decision-making challenges for college students include losing income,

underemployment, and poor attitudes toward initial jobs (Feldman, 2003). However,

career decision making positively increased college students’ awareness and

preparedness for post-collegiate careers (Taylor & Betz’s, 1983). A study by Tarver

(2020) identified that the restricted culture (mostly limited to interactions with fellow

student-athletes) in which student-athletes exist limits their exposure to career

34

development activities like internships. Similarly, a study by Cox et al. (2009) suggested

college sport is structured in a way that prevents student-athletes’ academic and

vocational development. This implies that student-athletes’ career decision making is

hindered by their commitment to sport. The importance of exploring one’s career options

has been well documented by theorists like Alfred Adler (1991). He considered “career”

one of three key aspects to a well-balanced life, with love and friendship as the other two

(Dreikurs, 1953). Within the college student population, student-athletes could be more

susceptible to having inadequate career decision-making skills due to their athlete-student

role conflict (Adler & Adler, 1987). Adler and Adler (1991) suggested that a lack of

control over the exit from sport can leave athletes with feelings of powerlessness and

frustration (Adler & Adler, 1991). Furthermore, lack of control and irreversibility, which

are characteristic of school-related athletic career exits, are other factors that contribute to

emotional distress (Adler & Adler, 1991). Adler and Adler (1991) also identified factors

that affect leaving sport and the shift in priorities and life aspirations, including athletic

identity, social support, pre-retirement planning, mode of exit, and the loss of

special/preferential treatment (Adler & Adler, 1991). This is important, considering that

many student-athletes fail to explore careers outside of being a professional athlete

because doing so would challenge their athletic identity, which in turn impacts their

career development (Brewer et al., 2017; Foster & Huml, 2017; Good et al., 1993; Thelin,

2018). Career development is impacted because if a student-athlete has not explored

other roles outside of being an athlete and has not self-assessed individual values, needs,

interests, and abilities, the self-concept has not developed, making it difficult to select a

career (Super,1957, 1990).

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Additionally, one theme that arises in the literature concerning student-athlete

career development is the adverse effect of students’ obligations as athletes on their

personal, academic, and career development (Cox et al., 2004). Regarding career

development, athletes have a higher probability than their nonathlete peers to face

problems with career maturity, academic plans, and adjustment to college (Watson &

Kissinger, 2007). Super (1957, 1990) associated a person’s capacity to progress through

the career development process to their career maturity, which incorporates making plans

and readiness to cope with developmental tasks like adjusting to college. More

specifically, Taylor and Betz (1983) and Navarro (2014) conducted studies that

investigated adverse factors related to career development. Taylor and Betz (1983) found

that students who have low Career Decision Self-Efficacy (CDSE), an individual’s ability

to make career decisions, have the highest probability of avoiding career decision-making

tasks (e.g., choosing a major or learning about their own skills and interests). Having low

CDSE leads to an inadequate ability to make quality career decisions; as a result, student-

athletes are more likely to alter their career goals when challenged by career decision-

making tasks (Taylor & Betz, 1983; Van Raalte & Brewer, 2002). Furthermore, Navarro

(2014) found through her phenomenological qualitative study of 29 Division 1 student-

athletes that while career planning should be ongoing in all of a student-athlete's college

years, it is even more necessary during senior year because student-athletes rely heavily

on the athletic department for career field preparation. The reliance on the athletic

department can prevent engagement with campus-wide resources. Thus, Navarro (2014)

recommended that athletic departments develop teams with cross-campus support

services to enhance collaboration between athletics and academics.

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Career Maturity and Career Expectations

Career maturity is described as a person’s capacity to make realistic and

responsible career decisions with an awareness of the requirements essential for making

such choices (Levinson, et al., 1998). Super (1957, 1990) linked individuals’ ability to

progress through the career development process to their career maturity. According to

Super (1957, 1990), student-athletes who demonstrate the appropriate level of career

maturity are able to collect information that aids them in their understanding of

themselves, their ability to make informed career choices, their assimilation of

knowledge of self and work, and their integration of everything into the career decision

making process that ultimately leads to their chosen career. Research on the relationship

concerning athletic identity and career maturity has generated mixed results. Some

researchers have reported a negative relationship where athletic identity hindered career

maturity (Murphy et al., 1996), and others have reported no relationship where athletic

identity had no impact on career maturity (Kornspan & Etzel, 2001). With respect to

football student-athletes, a negative relationship was found between athletic identity and

career maturity, as these players tended to concentrate on pursuing professional football

while ignoring other career options (Cox et al., 2009). The varying results concerning the

relationship between athletic identity and career maturity suggest that some student-

athletes are not as prepared when it comes to making career choices as other student-

athletes and will subsequently perform more poorly on responsibilities involving the

assessment of career choice exploration (Super, 1990). A probable explanation for the

possible lack of career maturity in student-athletes can be found by investigating

developmental theory. In stage five of Erikson’s Identity Development Theory, Erikson

37

(1959) suggested that individuals with no established understanding of their role in life

default to how others see them. Consequently, they may over-identify with individuals

they consider to be significant (e.g., coaches, parents, etc.). This links back to athletic

identity and career maturity because of the athlete’s low career maturity; they cannot

fully understand themselves and as a result cannot make informed career choices and

integrate everything into the career decision making process that ultimately leads to their

chosen career (Super, 1957, 1990).

Also, given student-athletes’ participation in intercollegiate athletics, there is a

threat of inadequate training for post-college endeavors as many student-athletes are so

focused on sports they do not consider an institutional exit strategy that would transition

them out of sport and prepare them for an alternative career (Adler & Adler, 1991; Fuller,

2014; Taylor & Ogilvie, 1994). Regardless of the positive attributes of intercollegiate

sports participation, student-athletes are at a substantial disadvantage because of a lack of

preparation for life outside athletics (Stout, 2018). Student-athletes need to mature not

only as high functioning athletes but also in preparation to be future contributing citizens

(Navarro, 2015; Tarver, 2020). A study by Rader (2019) found that while many of its

participating student-athletes possessed transferable skills gained through participation in

athletics, such as leadership traits and perseverance, they needed support in translating

these skills into meaningful experiences that could attract employers and obtain jobs. In

another study, student-athletes in the revenue sports (sports that bring in money) failed to

have viable career plans at the culmination of their college experience (Navarro,

2014). Student-athletes who strongly identify as an athlete are at risk of missing out on

the opportunity of career discovery for the sake of the sport (Cross & Fouke, 2019).

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Student-Athlete Transition

Super (1950) wrote to a great extent on the stages of career development, with

each stage marking a specific transition. Considering that less than 2% of football

student-athletes will make it to the professional level, and that many football student-

athletes have yet to explore other careers, a major transition is going to occur in which

they focus on becoming a working professional rather than a professional athlete after

college (Brewer et al., 2017). Thus, understanding the student-athlete transition

experience, the factors involved in an easy or challenging transition experience, and the

tools available to help student-athletes in their transitions is a key component toward

understanding their career path experience. In an effort to provide a holistic overview of

the career path experience, this section will discuss the literature on student-athlete

transitions. To begin, career development as it relates to student-athletes largely involves

transition because most student-athletes must experience a change in their career path

from professional athlete to an alternative career. Three out of four former student-

athletes report having trouble transitioning out of competitive sport into an alternative

career path (NCAA, 2018). It is important to note that all individuals reach points of

transition, not just athletes. Whether individuals are beginning, shifting through, or

ending a transition, transitions are a main element of the human experience, particularly

during college. However, due to the factors noted in this literature review, there is reason

to believe the career path experience for student-athletes is worth further scrutiny, given

the documented differences in their experiences.

Super’s (1950) developmental assessment of career development in the context of

“identity” allows for changes over time. As transitions influence the individual’s

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interactions, responsibilities, and values, Schlossberg’s (1981) transition theory offers a

model for recognizing strategies employed by these individuals in transition. Schlossberg

et al. (1995) reasoned that “transitions differ, but the structure for understanding

individuals in transition is stable” (p. 26). By focusing on the experiences of individuals

in transition, her theory aims to support university personnel in their role of aiding

students as they evaluate their own skills as well as the institutional resources available to

them. Schlossberg’s (1981) model illustrates that individuals can react and adapt to

similar changes that they experience at different periods in their lives. She theorized that

an individual’s ability to adapt can be negatively or positively influenced by three factors:

(1) how the transition is perceived by the person, (2) the features of the environment

before and after the transition, and (3) the person’s characteristics (Schlossberg,

1981). Schlossberg referenced Erikson’s (1950) ego development theory, referring to

identity versus identity diffusion. According to Erikson, to age efficiently one must cope

and behave according to reality. Both theories provide information for what student-

athletes are experiencing as they transition to a new career path because they are

experiencing a transition that involves their athletic identity.

Furthermore, Fuller (2014) used Taylor and Ogilvie’s (1994) conceptual model of

athletic retirement and Schlossberg’s (1981) model of career retirement as a base for

identifying factors in uncomplicated or problematic career transitions. Each model

supports the concept that a lack of control over the exit from sport can leave athletes with

feelings of powerlessness and frustration (Adler & Adler, 1991). Taylor and Ogilvie

(1994) proposed that the quality of transition is affected by the mode of exit (e.g.,

deselection, injury, age, free choice). Schlossberg (1981) advised that the timing and

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source of the transition will influence the individual’s adaptation to it. Taylor and

Ogilvie identified social identity (e.g., athlete identity, student identity, etc.) as a factor.

Coakley’s (2009, 2017) theory similarly suggested that a key challenge facing athletes

transitioning out of intercollegiate athletics is the mission of restructuring their identities

outside of sport participation.

Institutional Services for Student-Athletes

National Collegiate Athletic Association

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has long been an investor

in higher education. This is largely due to one of the longstanding missions of the NCAA

“to govern competition in a fair, safe, equitable and sportsmanlike manner, and to

integrate intercollegiate athletics into higher education so that the educational experience

of the student-athlete is paramount” (NCAA, 2020a, para 1). The higher education

facilities approved for the Division 1 bracket must “commit to maintaining a high

academic standard for student-athletes in addition to a wide range of opportunities for

athletics participation” (NCAA, 2018, para. 3). Since Division 1 football generates

significant revenue, the NCAA has specific rules for football and monitors that sport

more closely (NCAA, 2018). According to the NCAA (2018), these rules are in place to

ensure competitive equity. For example, student-athletes are not eligible for athletic

participation if they do not meet the NCAA’s Academic Progress Rating (APR)

requirements, and individual sport teams that do not meet the Graduation Success Rate

(GSR) requirement are penalized by the loss of individual scholarships (NCAA, 2018).

To adhere to its mission and better assess its success, the NCAA implemented the

Academic Progress Rating (APR) in 2003 (NCAA, 2018). The goal of this rating was to

keep each higher education facility accountable for maintaining student-athlete eligibility

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so that the student-athlete graduation rate would increase (Hosick, 2015). The APR is

calculated by giving one point for each student-athlete receiving athletically related

financial aid, earned by staying in school, and one point for being academically eligible

(NCAA, 2020b). Next, a team’s total points are divided by points possible and then

multiplied by 1,000 to equal the team’s Academic Progress Rate (NCAA, 2020b). Data

from the APR is collected annually, and results are announced in the spring (NCAA,

2018). The APR has both a reward and penalty system for institutions based on specific

academic benchmarks (NCAA, 2018). The implementation of the APR system has

resulted in the Graduation Success Rate (GSR) being the highest it has ever been for

Division 1 college athletes (Hosick, 2019). The GSR is the percent of students who

graduate within six years of enrollment and is calculated only for student-athletes who

are on a team that plays at the NCAA Division 1 level. According to Hosick (2019), the

Football Bowl Subdivision GSR is at an all-time high of 82%, up from 79%. To continue

to create a balance between two of the NCAA’s core ethics, promotion of graduation and

the educational value of athletics participation, Division 1 schools’ access to NCAA

revenue will depend on student-athletes’ academic achievement starting in the 2019-2020

academic year (Meyers, 2017). While graduation rates are increasing, this is not strong

enough evidence to deductively state that NCAA APR’s and GSR’s are creating an

environment that supports student-athlete’s career path experiences (McCormick, 2014).

The NCAA’s academic requirements regarding APR’s and GSR’s could be negatively

impacting a student-athlete’s ability to explore major possibilities and personally develop

through the exploration of different majors, since they are being pushed to graduation

(McCormick, 2014).

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Another NCAA initiative was introduced in 1994. The program is known as

CHAMPS (Challenging Athletes’ Minds for Personal Success)/Life Skills. The NCAA

CHAMPS/Life Skills program was framed from Dr. Homer Rice’s Total Person Project,

which aimed to educate student-athletes about balancing academic achievement, athletic

success, and personal wellbeing (NCAA, 2019b). Every Division 1 institution is

mandated by the NCAA to provide life skills programming for student-athletes (NCAA

News, 2003, NCAA, 2019b). The program was designed to enhance the quality of

student-athletes’ academic experiences, and its life skills are transferable to all students in

institutions of higher education (NCAA News, 2003; NCAA, 2019b).

The CHAMPS/Life Skills program identified five areas as key components to

address the needs of the student-athlete population: (a) academic excellence, (b) athletic

excellence, (c) personal development, (d) career development, and (e) services (NCAA

News, 2003; NCAA, 2019b). The career development component entails helping

student-athletes understand how transferable skills developed during sport participation

are valued in the workplace and introducing career self-exploration skills that are a

foundation of the career development process (NCAA, 2019b). The NCAA provides

member institutions with resources relevant to general career development issues,

timelines and activities for each academic year, and alumni career network models

(NCAA, 2019b). The career development programs offered to student-athletes can help

them to consider viable options and recognize that while their social identity has been as

an athlete for much of their life, there are additional groups with whom they have, or

could have, membership.

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In implementing the program on campuses, colleges customize it to fit the

specific needs of their student-athlete population (NCAA News, 2003; NCAA, 2019b).

Organizations can elect to focus on one component or all five (NCAA News, 2003;

NCAA, 2019b). Programs can be for freshmen only or student-athletes at all class levels

(NCAA News, 2003; NCAA, 2019b). According to the NCAA, a successful Life Skills

program must represent the campus environment, its department of athletics, and the

unique needs of its student-athletes, so that is why the extent of programming and how it

is implemented varies from institution to institution (NCAA, 2019b). Examples of

program types include: goal setting and time management, study skills, academic support

programs, developing self-esteem, dealing with depression, and/or personal and social

development and career planning.

Major/Career Advising Many Division 1 institutions, where the student-athletes’ schedules are the most

challenging, have support service programs in place to help student-athletes manage

academic and athletic responsibilities. According to a study done by the NCAA in 2009,

Division 1 football programs were the most likely to require that their college student-

athletes use the various academic support services available to them. The same study

also showed that Division 1 football players were the most likely to use tutoring services,

in which most of the tutors were undergraduate students (NCAA, 2009). While these

support programs offer a variety of services and programs intended to improve the

overall experience of college student-athletes, institutional faculty, administrators, and

others continue to criticize the engagement of college student-athletes in the overall

college experience and the degree to which they benefit from that experience in

comparison to their peers (Covington, 2017). When university athletic personnel were

44

asked to provide their opinions on how important it is to ensure that student-athletes

fulfill various requirements, including graduation, maintaining athletic eligibility, etc., the

majority strongly agreed that while it is important to ensure college student-athletes

choose a major for a career, maintain athletic eligibility, and graduate, the vast majority

reported graduation as the most important objective (NCAA, 2009).

This focus on graduation as the most important objective highlights a problem

within athletic departments and the way that they may be advising student-athletes. More

importance needs to be placed on other factors such as major choice and major viability

post-graduation by these groups of higher education personnel so that the student-athletes

have the opportunity for alternative careers that they are passionate about. In a study by

Vaughn and Smith (2018) of academic advisors of NCAA student-athletes, the advisors

reported that they experienced challenges navigating through NCAA rule changes while

trying to help student-athletes remain eligible for sports competition and succeed

academically. Over the last decade, the NCAA’s academic eligibility rules have grown to

include grade point average (GPA), benchmarks for credit hours, and progress toward

degree completion (NCAA, 2018). All student-athletes must pass six semester credits

each academic term, except for football student-athletes, who must pass with 18 semester

credits (NCAA, 2018). The NCAA eligibility rules apply to GPA, 40% completion of

major coursework by the end of their second year, and 60% completion of major

coursework by the end of their third year (NCAA, 2018). These rules are meant to

encourage student-athletes to maintain a consistent course load and rigor each term

(NCAA, 2018). The advisors in the study claimed the rule changes were a hindrance to

effective advising services (Vaughn & Smith, 2018) since, similar to nonathletes, student-

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athletes often have undecided or multiple academic aspirations and prefer to test their

commitment to different majors (Foster & Huml, 2017). Therefore, these rules serve to

constrain the academic aspirations of student-athletes which in turn hinders the career

path experience.

Furthermore, in response to the NCAA enforcing consequences on participating

institutions (e.g., less athletics-related financial aid) for teams not adhering to their

retention, eligibility, and graduation requirements, Division 1 institutions have offered

resources in the form of athletic academic advisors as well as various programs through

the student-athlete academic services office (e.g., tutoring). There also has been an

increase in the number of athletic centers that employ academic advisors and counselors

to supervise and increase eligibility, retention, and graduation rates of their student-

athletes (Banbel & Chen, 2014). Key themes that should be addressed at institutions

include academic advising, life skills development, clinical counseling, and performance

enhancement (Broughton & Neyer, 2001). An exemplar program would recruit amply

trained higher education professionals who have an understanding and capacity to

address college student-athletes’ personal, academic, and athletic concerns (Broughton &

Neyer, 2001). A study conducted by Shurts and Shoffner (2004) identified the University

of Florida as having an exemplar program to support the success of their college student-

athletes. To be considered an exemplar program, the program must promote student

experience and participation in spaces and events that could increase career and life

satisfaction (Shurts & Shoffner, 2004). The University of Florida’s Collegiate

Achievement Mentoring Program, or C.A.M.P. Gator is an exemplar program, as it

requires college student-athletes to engage in a comprehensive leadership-training

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curriculum and act as leadership mentors to at-risk middle-school children in the

community. While the program was identified as an exemplar in 2004, it is still going

strong today.

The participating university in this study also has a program that can be

considered an exemplar program and offers resources in the form of athletic academic

advisors as well as career advising. It boasts an unrivaled commitment to academics and

placed a school record of over 200 student-athletes on the ACC Honor Roll. Specifically,

the football team’s spring semester and cumulative GPAs set a team record and graduated

the most student-athletes from the institution’s athletic programs for Spring 2020. The

athletic program supplies the student-athletes with an abundance of resources and

programs as they work towards earning their degrees. The Academic Services/Life Skills

Department, along with a wide-range of campus resources, has established an academic

support program that serves to enhance the life of the student-athlete. It includes a staff

of over ten professionals that provide direction for the student-athletes in academic

advising in concert with advisors in the respective Dean’s offices, study table monitoring,

career planning, eligibility, life skills, and a multitude of other advice-focused services.

Another common practice being employed at institutions with exemplar programs

is the hiring of sport psychologists (Covington, 2017). Mental health is a key resource

for student-athletes with respect to their performance and development. Student-athletes

experience an increase in mental health risks compared to their nonathletic peers, such as

intense training, competitions, and an overall stressful lifestyle (Schinke et al., 2018).

Both career researchers and practitioners have deemed mental health an important

resource for student-athletes’ career decisions (e.g., when to retire from sport) and coping

47

with numerous athletic as well as non-athletic transitions (Samuel & Tenenbaum, 2013).

According to Lopez-Mondejar and Tomas-Pastor (2017), the focus on the socioemotional

(a cognitive process that includes both emotional and social processes) development of a

student has increased as institutions strive for the holistic development of students.

Although the literature suggests a variety of support in the higher education

setting for college student-athletes, there are important factors in the college student-

athlete experience, which are particularly powerful during their final year, that are not

necessarily being addressed. These factors include athletic identity and junior- and

senior-year concerns as student-athletes prepare to graduate. Each of these factors could

either help or hinder the initiatives for student-athletes. Thus, these factors are examined

in this study with junior and senior student-athletes.

Theoretical Foundation

Super’s (1950, 1990) career development theory was chosen as the theoretical

framework to inform this study of college student-athletes’ career path experiences and

the factors that can help or hinder navigation of their career path. As noted throughout

the literature review, career maturity is a key factor regarding career development, and it

forms the basis of Super’s theory as he considered it an essential measure of one’s career

development (Super, 1957, 1990). With this in mind his theory was chosen because

Super proposed the concept of career maturity in his career development theory (Super,

1957, 1990). He defined career maturity using five scopes: planfulness, exploration,

information gathering, decision-making, and reality orientation (Super, 1957,

1990). Furthermore, he theorized that career maturity incorporates age-appropriate

mindsets with career planning and career exploration, in addition to an understanding

48

about the workforce and career decision-making (Super, 1957). According to Super

(1957), individuals who demonstrate career maturity have these qualities: the capacity to

gather information about themselves in order to have an understanding of themselves, the

capacity to develop the ability to make informed decisions, the capacity to integrate

knowledge of self and knowledge of the work world, and the capacity to integrate all of

the above-mentioned and apply them to the career development process.

Later in his theory, he stressed the importance of understanding and being able to

predict a career. Super (1990) regarded the time spent in college as a vital period in

which students are granted the opportunity to investigate and discover potential career

paths. His assessment of career patterns supported the belief that the career development

process incorporates different occupational tasks on individuals at different times in their

lives (Super, 1953). Super (1950) believed occupational choice should be an unfolding

process. He identified five stages through his analysis of the work of developmental

psychologists and sociologists who independently studied stages of life and work. These

five stages are labeled as: growth (development of self-concept, attitudes, needs, and

general world of work), exploration (trying things out), establishment (beginner-level

skill building), maintenance (process of adjusting skills/position), and decline (retirement

preparations) (Super, 1957). Super (1950) further noted that career choice is not based on

a single decision but is the result of a cycle of decisions.

Ultimately, Super’s (1950) career development theory has two main

concepts. The first is based on career maturity, which he identified as an essential

measure of one’s career development. The second is based on self-concept and the way

individuals identify themselves. Together, these concepts form his belief that individual

49

progress unfolds through life stages and developmental activities. Ultimately, Super

indicates that the closer an elected career is to an individual’s self-concept, the more

significant the individual’s career choice will be. Super (1950) provides a foundational

model for individuals to follow regarding career decision-making. Therefore, using

Super’s theory as the framework, this study employed phenomenological methods to

explore and describe the phenomenon experienced by Division 1 football student-athletes

as they navigated their career path, and the factors that helped or hindered that

navigation.

Conclusion

This chapter provided an overview of the literature that informed this research

study on the career path experience for Division 1 student-athletes. Given that most

student-athletes will terminate their sport careers immediately upon college graduation

(Fuller, 2014), it is significant to understand how this population perceives the

phenomenon. It examined the student-athlete experience (college sport participation and

athletic identity development), reviewed career development as it pertains to career

development studies, career maturity, and student-athlete transition, and reviewed

institutional services that are available to Division 1 student-athletes. It concluded with a

synopsis of Super’s theory of career development (1950), the theoretical framework

being used for this study.

Ultimately, this literature review presented evidence of the Division 1 college

student-athlete experience and tried to raise awareness of such experiences. Currently,

much of the literature neglects to focus specifically on Division 1 football student-

athletes’ career path experience, and such a scarcity of information reinforces the need

50

for the current study. The literature also provided evidence that the programs available to

students are underserving and underpreparing this population for their career path

experience. This study can be used to provide insight about Division 1 student-athletes’

career path experiences to either create or refer student-athletes to existing resources that

are responsive to student-athletes’ needs as they begin to navigate their career. This

study used Super’s (1950) career development theory as a framework and as a result has

added to the existing literature a new perspective on student-athlete career path

experience that extends or adds to Super’s (1950) career development theory by focusing

on the college student-athlete experience.

The next chapter outlines the methodology used for this study. First it will

reestablish the problem statement. Then, the research question will be addressed and

further explained, followed by a discussion of information regarding phenomenology and

the research design. Details are presented concerning the population and sample

selection, data collection and management, data analysis procedures, and ethical

considerations, as well as the limitations of the study.

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Chapter 3: Methodology

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore what the career path

experience is like for Division 1 football student-athletes, and the factors that help or

hinder navigation of their career path. This particular study employed phenomenology as

a methodology because phenomenology enables the researcher to explore an individual’s

experiences with a phenomenon and then explains its essence, so the researcher will be

able to recognize a phenomenon as an object of human experience and give voice to it

(Moustakas, 1994). This approach suits this study's aim to give voice specifically to

football student-athletes regarding their career path experiences. Furthermore, this study

employed a fundamental aspect of phenomenological methodology called the “epoche.”

In the epoche, the researcher must set aside all prejudgments with reference to previous

knowledge and experience so that the researcher can see the phenomenon for the “first

time” (Moustakas, 1994, p. 34).

The epoche is the first step of the phenomenological process. Next, Moustakas

(1994) recommends that the researcher organize the themes into a description of the

experiences of the participants, and then assemble a synthesized description of the

essences of those experiences. This study’s themes were derived from the data collected

in interviews with junior and senior Division 1 football student-athletes. The systematic

process consisted of semi-structured, in-depth interviewing through which the researcher

was able to capture the true essence of each participant’s experiences as they navigated

their career path. The interview transcripts were then analyzed for codes and themes

according to the procedures for analysis as illustrated by Moustakas’s (1994) systematic

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process for phenomenology, which will be explained in more detail in the data analysis

section.

This chapter reviews the methods used in this study, including the population

selected, the sample characteristics, and the recruiting technique. In addition, the

demographic questionnaire and interview protocol are supplied in Appendix A. The

steps taken to promote validation, trustworthiness, and transferability are discussed,

followed by a brief positionality statement. Finally, data collection procedures, the

actions taken to promote the confidentiality and privacy of the participants, and the

analysis procedures are explained.

Participant Selection and Setting

To explore the career path experience of Division 1 student-athletes and the

factors that can help or hinder navigation of their career path, the use of purposeful

criterion and homogeneous sampling is recommended as they restrict the population and

limit the generalizability (Moustakas, 1994). Criterion sampling selects participants that

meet a pre-determined criterion, and homogeneous sampling enlists a sample that shares

very similar characteristics. According to Creswell (1994), essence, which is defined as

the meaning of the phenomenon experienced, can be hard to cultivate if the researcher

chooses heterogeneous participants who have all experienced the phenomenon but whose

experiences differ because of their cultural or historical backgrounds. Individuals from

different cultures could experience things differently because of their different cultural

lenses; for example, basketball players could experience the phenomenon differently than

football players because they have a different lens. With this in mind, this study used

criterion sampling and a homogenous sample.

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In criterion sampling, all participants meet a common criterion, which is vital to a

phenomenological study (Creswell, 1998). For the purpose of this research, participants

needed to be at least 18 years of age, attend the same medium-sized, private, Division 1

institution in the South, and be classified on the football roster with the university’s

athletic department and the NCAA as a Division 1 student-athlete. Moreover, for a

sample to be homogenous, the participants must have an experience in common. In the

case of this study the homogenous experience was the following: during their junior and

senior years these college football student-athletes first became eligible for the draft

(NFL, 2020) and learned that they would not become professional athletes in the NFL

after graduation. Therefore, all participants selected were registered at the university as a

junior or senior, played Division 1 football for the university, and had originally intended

to play football professionally but now knew would not follow that career path as a

professional athlete.

Participant selection was accomplished by using the football roster to identify

prospective student participants who were then sent an invitation and flyer that briefly

described the study and aforementioned inclusion criteria via their university email,

inviting them to participate in the study. The email can be found in Appendix B and the

flyer can be found in Appendix C. Information about which students volunteered to

participate was not disclosed to the athletic department. The university’s athletic

department was also provided the recruitment request with information on the study as a

source of participant recruitment. The email sent to the athletic department can be found

in Appendix B.

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Snowball sampling was also employed to encourage others to share the

recruitment flyer and email with football student-athletes who might be interested in

participating. As part of the snowball sampling, football student-athletes who did

participate in an interview were encouraged to point their peer football players to the

study flyer and opportunity to participate if they so wished; they were informed that it

was completely voluntary. Division 1 football players are a difficult to reach student

population, and Creswell (2013) promotes the value of having an “insider” in the

population who may be willing to point others “inside” this hard-to-reach population to

the opportunity to participate in this study, recruiting them by means of snowball

sampling. Thus, participants who filled out the flyer informed other potentially eligible

peers about the study and opportunity to participate, which is how the remaining

participants responded to the study call and were selected.

Regarding the participant sample size, qualitative data sets should be kept

manageably small (Fuller, 2014). Polkinghorne (1989) proposed a sample size of 5 to 25

participants for phenomenological research. It is also important that the number of

participants allows for data saturation to be reached in order to enhance a study’s validity

(Denzin & Lincoln, 2018). Data saturation means reaching the point in the research

process when no new information is being discovered (Denzin & Lincoln, 2018). This

study recruited eight participants in Division 1 football who are navigating their career

path. Data saturation was reached with eight participants, because by the eighth

participant no new information was expected to be added from conducting further

interviews that would enhance or change the findings of the study.

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The research site was a medium-sized, suburban, private, research institution. It

is nationally ranked as one of the top 50 institutions and boasts one of the richest histories

of producing National Football League talent. The university is more selective with an

acceptance rate of 27%. As of 2019, undergraduate enrollment totaled over 11,000.

Furthermore, the university is a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association

(NCAA) Division 1 level. The institution houses over 15 National Collegiate Athletic

Association (NCAA) Division 1 athletic teams and about 500 student-athletes. Men’s

teams include baseball, football, basketball, cross country, diving, tennis, indoor track

and field, and outdoor track and field. Women’s teams include basketball, cross country,

swimming and diving, golf, rowing, soccer, tennis, indoor track and field, outdoor track

and field, and volleyball.

The primary data collection method was a set of semi-structured, one-on-one

interviews lasting 30-45 minutes. It should be noted that this method is not universal

since there are phenomenological studies which include different sources of data, such as

poems, taped conversations, formally written responses, journals, music, art,

observations, and other artifacts (Creswell, 2013; Van Manen, 2014). However, this

study followed Moustakas’s (1994) methodology for phenomenology, and Moustakas

(1994) reports that typically in a phenomenological investigation interviews are the

method through which data is collected. Interviews were conducted online and audio-

recorded using Zoom at a time agreed upon in consultation with the recruited

participants.

The data collection started in November 2020 with five participants. After an

initial analysis of the data, the researcher identified some areas that would benefit from

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further clarification. In January 2021, the researcher reached back out to the participants

via email requesting their participation in a follow-up interview. This email can be found

in Appendix B. Since the follow-up was brief, the participants were given the choice to

participate over Zoom or respond to the questions via email. Three of the participants

that agreed to the follow-up via interview were then sent the verbal consent addendum

and a Zoom link or email with the follow-up questions. Two of the five participants that

completed the initial interview in November 2020 did not complete follow up interviews

via Zoom or answer follow-up questions via email. The questions asked in the follow-up

interview can be found in Appendix A. Three new participants volunteered to participate

between January 2021 and February 2021. Those three new participates completed the

initial interview with the follow-up interview questions included in that initial interview.

All interviewing stopped when data saturation was reached with eight participants in

February 2021. Below, Table 1 outlines the eight study participants with pseudonyms

and additional relevant demographic information.

Table 1 Participant Chart

Name Class Standing Race/Ethnicity Age Major GPA Pippin Junior White 21 Mechanical Aerospace Engineer 3.93

Aragorn Junior African American 20 Business Management 2.4

Legolas Senior Hispanic 21 Neuroscience 3.89

Elrond Senior White 21 Criminology 3.0

Gandalf Senior White 21 Economics 3.4

Sauron Senior African American 20 Criminology 2.9

Frodo Fifth-year Senior Hispanic 22 Liberal Arts 3.0

Gimli Senior African American 22 Music Business 3.3

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Demographic Questionnaire and Interview Protocol

A demographic questionnaire and a semi-structured interview protocol were

designed for this study; both are provided in Appendix A. The demographic

questionnaire asked students to report their year in college (e.g., junior, senior), age,

race/ethnicity, major, and cumulative GPA. Pseudonyms were assigned to protect the

participants’ identities. This demographic data is important to collect because many of

these characteristics can influence the perception of the phenomenon—career path

experience (Schlossberg, 1989). For example, GPA can affect the perception of the

student’s success in their academic program and in turn academic success can affect how

confident students feel about their career path. Students were also asked their year in

school, to confirm that they were juniors or seniors and thus eligible to participate in the

study.

The interview protocol consisted of questions to explore major areas related to the

original research questions, which focused on the career transition experience of Division

1 football student-athletes. Specific areas that were tapped into related to the student-

athlete career path experience were identity, career maturity, and institutional support.

However, the data collected did not support the essence of the research question as

framed, so the research question was revised. A set of follow-up questions were created

to address those areas. Three of the five original participants followed up. The three

additional participants who participated in the study between January and February of

2021 were interviewed with the added follow-up questions. Informed by the literature

review and conceptual framework, the questionnaire sought to explore different facets of

the football student-athletes' career path experience, including how they described that

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experience and what it was they experienced. The questions that were developed were

framed as Moustakas (1994) suggested for phenomenological research, taking into

account football student-athletes’ contextualized experiences with their career path

navigation and focusing on “how” and “what” was experienced, thereby providing a

concrete framework for asking interview questions relevant to the research questions.

After five interviews, some areas needed clarification.

Validation, Trustworthiness, and Transferability

A goal of phenomenological research is to achieve a descriptive understanding of

the experience of a specific group. To meet this goal, validity, trustworthiness, and

transferability need to be implemented with attention and care. Creswell (2007) proposes

eight strategies that are regularly employed by qualitative researchers, including

triangulation, peer review, clarifying researcher bias from the outset of the study, member

checking, and providing rich descriptions. Creswell (2013) encourages qualitative

researchers to apply a minimum of two strategies. For the purposes of this study, four

strategies were chosen: (a) clarifying researcher bias for trustworthiness, (b) member

checking for validity, (c) providing rich descriptions for transferability, and (d) peer

review. The first was provided in an epoche and brief positionality statement. Merriam

(1995) argued that this strategy allows readers to view the findings in the context of the

researcher and to understand how the data was pieced together by the researcher. This

approach gives the readers the opportunity to evaluate the study and come to their own

conclusions about validity and transferability, thereby promoting trustworthiness.

Moreover, member checking was executed by sending verbatim files to the participants

to crosscheck their responses. Also, the participants’ background information and a

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thorough description of the study were provided to illustrate who the students were as

well as to provide a rich description of each participant to help contextualize their

responses. Finally, as part of peer review the dissertation chair checked the data analysis

for accuracy of interpretation and to control for biases.

Positionality Statement

For the purpose of clarifying research bias in this paper, I am providing a brief

positionality statement that reviews how my identity could impact this topic. My identity

impacts the topic because I once identified as a student-athlete and I currently work with

student-athletes. Throughout my journey as a doctoral candidate, most of my research

focused on student-athletes, and it was fueled largely by my experience as a student-

athlete and as a coach. I also found that the career path experience for student-athletes is

an area of research that needs further investigation and attention. This perception came

from readings in the literature and from peers who were experiencing a phenomenon

similar to research descriptions. From the readings, I perceived gaps in theoretical

frameworks, and noted that much of the research was outdated (Murphy et al.,

1996). Having been a student-athlete in the past, and as a coach presently, I am

empathetic to the experience the participants are going through. Subsequently, the

purpose of this section was to discuss my background in relation to this study. While my

experiences and observations have inspired my passion for this study, I have suspended

and set aside all my assumptions and experiences so that I might see this phenomenon

with an open mind and fresh eyes.

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Data Collection Procedures

Moustakas (1994) suggests the research procedure starts with identifying the

phenomenon under investigation. In this phenomenological study, the phenomenon

identified was the career path experience of Division 1 student-athletes. Following

permission from the Institutional Review Board at the university (located in Appendix

D), data collection was initiated. In this study, the data gathering method required in-

depth interviews with the participants (Creswell, 2007).

Additionally, the purpose of a phenomenological interview is to explain the

significance of a phenomenon that a group of individuals share (Marshall & Rossman,

2006). In this study, all participants were going through the experience of navigating an

alternative career path. To make sure that all participants met the criteria for sampling,

an email (located in Appendix B) and flyer (located in Appendix C) with information

regarding the study and the criteria needed was sent to student-athlete emails for the

purposes of recruitment and was shared via snowball sampling. The researcher then

worked with prospective participants to schedule a 30- to 45-minute private, password-

protected Zoom meeting to promote confidentiality during the interviews. Students who

volunteered to participate were asked verbally for consent. The interviews were

conducted from a locked, private room. As part of snowball sampling, participants were

then encouraged to point their peer football players to the study flyer and opportunity to

participate.

Moustakas (1994) recommends that phenomenological interviews begin with a

social conversation to establish a relaxing and trusting atmosphere. He also applied the

term “co-researcher” to participants, as participants are involved in defining the essence

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of the phenomenon in addition to the researcher (Moustakas, 1994). The objective of the

primary researcher is to inform the co-researchers of their position and function.

Therefore, at the beginning of this study, I attempted to make study participants feel like

co-researchers by informing them about how their experiences and interpretations would

help illuminate the study’s research purpose and research questions. They were also

informed that they could choose not to answer any question or choose to end the

interview at any time and that their answers would be kept confidential and their identity

anonymous. This was to assure the study participants that everything they were

providing was voluntary and to gain their trust that everything would be kept secure and

private.

Then the participants were asked about their career path experiences with the

intention of gaining useful data to answer the study’s research questions. In qualitative

research, the researcher also needs to encourage the participants to be open and share in-

depth details regarding their experiences. To accomplish this, Poggenpoel and Myburgh

(2003) suggested that the researcher “facilitates the flow of communication, identifies

cues, and the researcher sets respondents at ease” (p. 419). Thus, the semi-structured

interview script, in Appendix A, had prompts to facilitate the conversation flow during

interviews. Moreover, Seidman (2006) recommended building rapport with each

participant during the study. Therefore, the researcher shared some of her own

experiences relevant to the research questions as a means to build rapport and make the

participant feel more comfortable sharing details about their experiences.

Following the initial analysis of the data, the researcher created follow-up

clarifying questions (Appendix A) to better understand some of the information the

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participants shared. The data needed to be clarified because while the initial interviews

were informative, the initial data from each participant was not sufficient to answer the

research questions. Also, a study finding revealed that the population was not

experiencing a career transition because they had alternative career plans, so the study

could not offer a definition of the career transition experience. Since the student-athletes

had alternative career plans, they did not transition into a career because they were

already working on pursuing their alternative career path. The research question was

then amended to reflect the career path experience of Division 1 football student-athletes.

The career path experience would provide information about how they navigated their

careers and developed their career path. Prior participants were contacted again, via

email, and requested to take part in a brief follow-up interview. Because the follow-up

was brief the participants had the choice of conducting it via Zoom or email. Three of

the participants volunteered to follow-up via Zoom; they were asked for their verbal

consent again and a Zoom link was sent to conduct the follow up interview. The

additional participants were also interviewed with the added follow-questions. All

recordings and notes were stored in OneDrive through the university, which is password

protected. Following their interview, participants were sent a copy to review for member

checking and validation purposes via their university email. The audio files were

professionally transcribed using a third party.

Data Analysis Procedures and Presentation of Results

After data collection via one-on-one interviews with participants, the data was

analyzed by following Moustakas’s phenomenological data analyzing procedure. Data

analysis involved (a) horizontalizing, (b) creating a reduction of experiences to the

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invariant constituents, (c) verifying accuracy and transparent description, (d) constructing

individual textural descriptions of participants, (e) creating imaginative variation, (f)

synthesizing textural and structural descriptions, and (g) defining the essence (Moustakas,

1994). Before starting the data analysis, as suggested by Moustakas (1994), the epoche

and positionality statement was read by the researcher to give the researcher the

opportunity to reflect and examine his/her experiences as a means to avoid judgment and

biases during data analysis. In this study, the researcher implemented this tactic prior to

delving into data analysis. As part of this exercise the researcher found that she had

experiences that motivated her to conduct this study, like serving as a coach and once

having identified as a student-athlete herself.

The first part of the Moustakas data analysis procedures is called

horizontalizing. During this step, verbatim statements regarding the phenomenon of the

career path experience for Division 1 football student-athletes were copied from of the

transcript and recorded or copied onto Excel. The Excel spreadsheet was used to capture

relevant statements and assign codes. Some examples of the codes included: alternative

career planning, dual career ambitions, support, mentor, and time demands. These

statements were then referred to in this study as the horizons. Horizons are meant to

represent the textural meanings of the phenomenon, to give the “what” of the experience

(Moustakas, 1994). Moustakas (1994) noted that horizons are infinite and

horizontalization is an ongoing procedure. From this a list of meaning units, which was

content that was mentioned a number of times that referenced the research questions, was

created for each participant. The list of meaning units can be found in Appendix G.

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Next, Moustakas (1994) advises creating a reduction of experiences. This was

accomplished through the review of the horizons listed for each participant to ensure that

there were no overlapping or repetitive statements. Moustakas (1994) also recommends

that the researcher ask the following two questions when recording these statements: 1)

“Does it contain a moment of the experience that is a necessary and sufficient constituent

for understanding it?” and 2) “Is it possible to abstract and label it?” (Moustakas, 1994,

p.121). The horizons that met these requirements then became known as the invariant

constituents, which are the horizons defined as the “core themes of the experience” of the

phenomenon (Moustakas, 1994, p. 121). Next, the invariant constituents were grouped

into themes and the horizons and their themes were organized to create core

themes. Once all core themes were arranged, they were compared to the literature to

verify accuracy and transparent description throughout the data. The core themes were

then divided into defining groups; in this way, they all had only one category. This was

done using the Excel spreadsheet; a snippet of the core themes can be found in Appendix

G. According to Moustakas (1994), organizing the themes to have one meaning allows

for the phenomenon to be objectified in order to get to the essence of the experience.

After that, meaning units or themes (Moustakas, 1994) that the majority of the

study participants shared were identified and a synthesized textural and structural

description centered on these shared meaning units was made. From the textural

descriptions, structures (description of the context or setting that influenced how the

participants experienced the phenomenon) were created using imaginative variation

(different perspectives). Moustakas (1994, 1997-1998) explains, “The task of

Imaginative Variation is to seek possible meanings through the utilization of imagination,

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varying the frames of reference, employing polarities and reversals, and approaching the

phenomenon from divergent perspectives, different positions, roles, or functions”

(Moustakas, 1994, p. 98). From the synthesized textural and structural descriptions,

isolated meaning units were removed to ensure the phenomenon’s essence was

representative of the group, not the individual. The descriptions were then integrated into

a collective description of the majority of the group by developing working assertions

about each theme using a word template. This template helped identify key quotations

from the Excel coding sheet that supported the working assertions and the themes

identified and described “how” and “what” happened in the phenomenon.

While developing the working assertions, the original investigated research

questions, which involved the career transition experience of Division 1 football student-

athletes, pivoted to focus on their career path experience. This was because a finding

revealed that the population was not experiencing a career transition, and therefore the

study could not provide a definition of the career transition experience. The data

collected by the researcher did not support the essence of the research question as framed,

and thus the research questions needed to be reframed. As a result, the researcher

recoded all the codes using the new research questions as a frame. The dissertation chair

also checked the data analysis for accuracy of interpretation and to control for biases.

Conclusion

Phenomenology as a methodological framework has progressed into a process

that pursues reality in people’s descriptions of their lived experiences of phenomena

(Moustakas, 1994). The objective of this phenomenological study was to investigate the

following research questions: (a) What was the career path experience like for Division 1

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football student-athletes? and (b) What factors helped or hindered navigation of their

career path? To accomplish this objective, Moustakas (1994) was selected as a

methodological framework. The methodology included employing criterion sampling

and homogenous sampling, writing an epoche and positionality statement, establishing a

set of semi-structured interview questions, and using a structured data analysis that

required horizontalization.

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Chapter 4: Results

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore how junior- and

senior-level Division 1 football student-athletes described their career path experience at

a medium-sized, private, Division 1 institution in the South through the lens of Super’s

(1950) career development theory. The research questions investigated were: (a) What

was the career path experience like for Division 1 football student-athletes? and (b) What

factors helped or hindered navigation of their career paths? The researcher interviewed

eight participants who were full-time Division 1 football student-athletes; two were

junior-level and six were senior-level. To protect the confidentiality of the participants,

the participants were referred to by the following pseudonyms: Pippin, Aragorn, Legolas,

Elrond, Gandalf, Sauron, Frodo, and Gimli. A brief description of the background of

each participant can be found in Appendix E in order to provide better understanding of

the individual participants’ demographic information, choice of major, academic

standing, and career goal.

In a phenomenological study, the “essence” is the researcher’s interpretation of

the phenomenon which helps put into context the lived experiences of the research

participants, with the goal being for the researcher to recognize the phenomenon as an

object of human experience and give voice to it (Moustakas, 1994). Thus, this chapter

outlines the study findings by highlighting shared themes that represent the essence of

junior- and senior-level Division 1 football student-athletes’ career path experience. The

focus of this study was to understand the experience of Division 1 football student-

athletes as they navigated their career path and the factors that helped or hindered that

navigation. Study participants’ experiences and the factors that helped and hindered their

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career paths are depicted through the themes provided in this chapter. The following

descriptions of the themes are designed to help the reader comprehend the essence of the

participants’ stories. An analysis of the data revealed three themes that helped answer the

aforementioned research questions. These themes are: (a) Theme 1: Alternative Career

Path Planning, which described study participants’ experiences in planning for alternative

career paths; (b) Theme 2: Competing Time Demands Hinder Career Path Preparation;

and (c) Theme 3: Social Support Assists Career Path Navigation. The latter two themes

addressed what factors helped or hindered navigation of Division 1 football student-

athletes’ career paths.

This study aimed to give voice to the career path experience among football

student-athletes and to gain insight and a deeper understanding of those career path

experiences in order to explore the career path experience of Division 1 student-athletes

and the factors that can help or hinder navigation of their career path. To address the

purpose of this study, the methodology outlined in chapter 3 was followed and themes to

answer the research questions were developed that captured the shared meaning of the

career path experience among Division 1 football student-athletes. In the next section,

the shared themes of the career path experience among Division 1 football student-

athletes are identified and described and supporting quotations are provided.

Supplementary quotations can be found in Appendix F as additional evidence to support

the identified themes.

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Theme 1: Alternative Career Path Planning: “... if football didn't work, then I

always had my plan B.”

The first theme relates to how and why having an alternative career path

plan shaped the career path experience of Division 1 football student-athletes. At the

beginning of the interview, the participants were asked about their career goals at the start

of college. All eight participants indicated that they entered college with alternative

career paths (a path that they could fall back on if their first path did not work) in mind;

their alternative career choices were diverse, ranging from doctors to engineers. They

reported that having an alternative career path plan facilitated their career path

navigation. For example, some reported being less anxious about what they were going

to do when football was over and that it was easier to mentally focus on their alternative

careers.

Pippin entered college with the plan to become an engineer, and his major is

Mechanical Aerospace Engineering. The reason why he chose this institution was so that

he could enroll in the university’s accelerated engineering program (which is a 5-year

bachelor’s and master’s program) while playing football. Pippin entered college with the

hope of playing for the NFL, but knowing that was not likely, he also had a plan to

become an engineer. He explained:

I had been planning on having an engineering major. At first, it was physics but an engineering major. I had that several years before I got to [University]. And the blueprint I always had in my head was, "I'm going to get this degree and if I go play in the NFL, then I'll have a degree when I retire. And if I don't play in the NFL, I still have a degree and I just skipped that detour." [sic] It's a little disappointing knowing I'm not going to play NFL, or extremely likely that I won't play in the NFL, but I think that it feels like it was gradual, it didn't come out of the blue. So, it's not something I wasn't expecting. It's not a huge deal, I get to focus on what I'm doing next, which for me is engineering…I'm so excited about the fact that I get to do engineering. I've always had a goal of being an engineer,

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and what I've said for a long time is, the NFL is a goal, but it's not the end goal. I know I would have a career after football…I'm excited to just keep going with my degree. [sic] I have a plan. I don't have to worry about what I'm going to do next. [Having an alternative career goal] makes it a lot easier, versus putting all your eggs in one basket and then having that not work out, feeling like you have no idea what you're going to do.

For Pippin, the plan was to pursue an engineering career path as an alternative to being

drafted into the NFL. He believed that playing for the NFL was the ultimate goal, but his

backup plan or alternative was to become an engineer, just in case he did not attain his

goal of playing for the NFL. He is looking forward to continuing with his degree and

becoming an engineer. Having an alternative career path in mind from the beginning of

college made navigating his alternative career path easier when it was clear he would not

be drafted for the NFL. Pippin did not have to worry about what to do next, so it can be

assumed that he felt at ease with respect to his transition.

Similarly, Legolas claimed to always have had an alternative career path plan in

mind, even before getting to college. If playing professional football in the NFL did not

work out, he would pursue becoming an orthopedic doctor. His choice of institution was

based on their strong football program and being able to pursue the study of medicine at

the same time. Legolas said:

So, it's always kind of been a plan A, plan B for me. The reason I chose [University] and chose football is because that's always kind of been my dream to play in the NFL ever since I was really, really young...So, my plan A was football and then plan B has always been medicine (orthopedic doctor)...And I feel really confident and I think that whatever that next step is and wherever it is, because medicine, wherever you got accepted is kind of where you have to go. So, wherever this next chapter takes me, I feel really confident. [I]t sucks a little bit because obviously football is my passion, and that's what I want to do, and that's what I love, but in a way, I feel like I've found another way to integrate sports into my life if that makes sense. [I] can be involved with those players that do play and actually have a direct impact on the game [as an orthopedic doctor]. It's like I found some consolation, that in a way I'll still have an impact.... So, by always putting academics as a priority right next to the sports, it just like it made me feel

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like I... How do I say it? There wasn't a drop-off. You know what I'm saying? I was just here, here, here with football, and then when I realized football wasn't going to be an option for the future, so I'm like, "I can't live off of football," then it's just, "Okay, I continue with academics.”

Having an alternative career path plan helped Legolas feel ready for wherever his career

path took him, whether it was playing football professionally or pursuing a career as an

orthopedic doctor. When the time came and football ended, he reported that he would

“continue with academics” because he had always had this alternative career path in mind

as his “plan B.” “There wasn’t a drop-off”, so having an alternative career path plan

resulted in no transition.

Frodo entered college with the alternative career path plan to do something in

business. He took a variety of courses and when he learned that he was skillful in sales

and marketing, he narrowed his broad business focus to those areas. When asked about

his career goals at the start of college, Frodo explained:

At the start a college... I wanted to do something in business, so I wanted to find something that, one I was good at, and [two] that I enjoyed doing. So, I did the foundation classes, the general classes, electives, and then I figured I found... throughout all that, I found out I was pretty good at marketing and I was pretty good at sales. So, I mixed the two together and I started going for that. [sic] I'm not the biggest guy, it would be a very small, small percentage for me to make the NFL, so it's always been like... even if I was to make the NFL, just like knowing what I want to do after that, because NFL is only a certain amount of time and it's not a promise, even just football in general. So, it's just finding something that you're good at, because there's going to be a life after football that you need to be ready for. And you got to be able to provide for your family when it comes to having them.

Frodo recognized that football would not last forever when he stated that the “NFL is

only a certain amount of time and it’s not a promise.” Having an alternative career path

plan allowed him to get a degree in something he “was good at” and that he “enjoyed

doing.” Frodo stated that “there’s going to be a life after football that you need to be

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ready for,” which suggests that having an alternative career path in mind also helped him

to feel prepared for life and a career after football.

Overall, in answering the research question, this study found that alternative

career path planning leads to pragmatic and responsible career decisions. The Division 1

football student-athletes had an awareness of their career options and an understanding

that because playing professionally was an unlikely prospect, they would at some point

need to pursue an alternative career (e.g., orthopedic medicine). The majority of the

participants noted that they picked this institution because they could pursue a major that

supported their alternative career path plans while playing football. Therefore, having an

alternative career path plan to playing in the NFL allowed the football student-athletes to

feel more confident about pursuing alternative careers and made navigating their

alternative career path easier.

Theme 2: Competing Time Demands Hinder Career Preparation: “Football is

making my academics a lot harder than it would be if I wasn't playing.”

The second theme focuses on how competing time demands between Division 1

football participation and academic study hindered career preparation for student-athletes.

This theme addressed the research question: What factors hindered navigation of the

football student-athletes’ career path? When asked about any challenges that they were

experiencing over the course of their career path, five out of eight participants revealed

competing time demands as a challenge in their career preparation. If the participants

had more time for studying or internships, then they would have felt more prepared for

their careers. Academics would have provided each of these participants with the

knowledge needed for their careers, and internships would have provided them with the

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experiences that may have facilitated their career paths. As a result of the competing

time demands between football and academics, the participants felt hindered in their

career path navigation.

Frodo felt that the time demands of football hindered his ability to prepare for his

career path. He felt like he missed out on internships and job experience that would have

built his resume for a career in business. He explained:

I would say that, with sports, all my time, not all my time, but the majority of my time is very consumed with sports... So, I feel that I'm... a little hindered, as in my actual job experience. I know that jobs, they want to have you with experience. I feel like I kind of miss out with that a little bit. So, if I could even go back, maybe try and find more internships so that I can kind of build my resume up a little more, because I'm a smart kid, but I feel like most of the stuff that you're going to learn with a job, especially in sales, is that you need to have product knowledge and learn... You learn through experience. And, if you don't have that experience, you can take all the classes you want, there's just certain things that you're not going to get. So, I feel like I'm a little behind with that.

Frodo noted that he knows “jobs, they want to have you with experience” and, since he

did not have internship experience, he felt he missed out and was “a little behind.” He

acknowledged that, while he did learn in class, there was more he could have learned

from real world experience with respect to his career path in sales. Frodo reported that he

would have felt more prepared for his career in sales if he could have learned through

internship experiences. Not having internship or job experiences hindered his career path

navigation.

Pippin similarly noted that “Football is making my academics a lot harder than it

would be if I wasn't playing. I mean, it's a balancing act, it's pretty challenging, but I

make it work.” Part of the reason the time demands presented a challenge to his career

preparation was that the time demands of football conflicted with his classes. Having to

dedicate a significant amount of time to athletics hindered his ability to prepare to be an

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engineer (his intended career path). Pippin explained, “the amount of time I would

normally spend investing studying…is often when I'm practicing.” When asked how the

time demands of football were making academics harder, Pippin continued:

The first thing that comes to my mind is that my classes conflict with practice. [sic] So when I miss practice for a class, or I miss meetings for a class, that will negatively impact football for me, because you have to be at practice to play. [sic] And when it comes to classes, the amount of time I spend in the morning with football, the time I have to go to bed to get enough sleep to even wake up for a 5:45 A.M. workout, the amount of time I'm watching film or studying the playbook, it all takes away from studying for academics. So, there's only 24 hours in a day, and the amount of time I would normally spend investing studying, a lot of that is often when I'm practicing.

The competing demands made it difficult for him to fully invest in either football or his

career path as an engineer. The football schedule conflicted with his class schedule and

took away from the time he could have been spending on his academics and learning the

content he needed to be an engineer. But he also could not miss football practices

without risking his place in football. Moreover, these competing time demands meant he

did not have time to pursue things like internships that would have helped him better

prepare for a career path outside of football, which worried him. He explained:

I can't do internships … because football is year-round, so we're going in the summer as well. … not doing internships makes me feel like I'm risking being behind, but talking with professors, talking with advisors, I mean, internships are certainly ideal, and for certain jobs, certain companies, it's almost a necessary thing [sic]

He spoke with professors and advisors who informed him that experiencing internships

would be beneficial. For Pippin, not having internships made him feel like he was behind

in his career path, which hindered his career path navigation.

Gandalf also believed that having had more time outside of football would have

been helpful to prepare for his career path pursuits. He reserved weekends for academics,

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but he also wanted more time to relax on the weekends. He explained that having more

time would have helped to prepare for his future career path:

I think we have enough time for school, but that's only because the weekends. But by the time the weekend comes, you want to be able to relax. I think athletes need more time for themselves and just time to relax. I think it would improve academics as well because it's a full day. You go to football in the morning, and then you got your classes, and then you have your homework, especially when you become a senior, [senior year requirements and football are] very demanding...you're trying to take all the classes you need in order to graduate and all your requirements. [sic] And it's like, sometimes you just don't have enough time to really give your best effort in it. And oftentimes, you'll end up forgetting about [homework due dates] one night or two.

Gandalf imagined that his academic performance would have improved if he had had

more time. Senior year has been especially demanding, because he has been trying to

complete classes and meet the requirements to graduate with the credentials needed for a

career outside of football. This in turn has hindered his career path navigation.

Gandalf’s experience showed that competing time demands between academics

and athletics hinders career preparation. The study participants indicated that finding

time to reflect, study, conduct research, and enroll in internships was a challenge because

of the time commitment needed to train, practice, and play football. Thus, they were

challenged with the time demands of football and would have benefitted from investing

less time in football so that they could have engaged in more research, internships,

academics, and career path planning.

Theme 3: Social Support Assists Career Path Navigation: “Not feeling like I'm on

my own making a decision is something that's really helpful for me.”

The third theme demonstrates how informational support and emotional support

assisted the football student-athletes' navigation of their career path. The third theme

helped answer the following research question: What factors helped the navigation of

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football student-athletes’ career paths? When asked about what support they have as they

navigate their career paths, all of the participants emphasized the importance of social

support such as coaches providing first-hand knowledge regarding student-athlete career

paths to help with their career path plan. Within theme three, two subthemes

emerged. In their description of social support, all of the participants indicated having

received informational support and emotional support to aid in their career path

experience. The first subtheme, informational support, refers to knowledge or advice

given to help student-athletes, like providing facts about a career and guidance during the

career planning process. The second subtheme, emotional support, involves empathizing

and listening to support student-athletes; for example, when close family members

provide a listening ear during a stressful moment to ease anxiety. Below is a review of

the two subthemes.

Subtheme 1: Informational Support: “It's first-hand knowledge that I get to

hear, so I feel like I'm making an informed decision.” When asked about what

support they had as they navigated their career paths, the participants described having

received informational support from people like coaches and mentors. Informational

support refers to useful insight, such as what steps they need to take towards their desired

career. The participants reported this type of support helped them to navigate their career

path by providing them with knowledge to make informed decisions regarding their

career path.

Pippin felt the support of his coaches and teammates affected his experience

navigating his career path in college. His coaches and teammates gave him first-hand

knowledge about how the draft process works. This informational support from them

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helped him think about how he was going to navigate his career path going forward.

Pippin explained:

Well, they [coaches] know what they're talking about. A lot of them have played themselves, so hearing their advice goes a lot further than if I were to just analyze it myself, or if see an interview with some famous athlete that says it, because the coaches actually know me, and I know that they have my best interest in mind…Now at [University], not only do I have coaches with NFL experience, but my teammates, so I have a lot of teammates who are either in the League or working through the draft process. So again, I talk with them and just see how all that works. It's first-hand knowledge that I get to hear, so I feel like I'm making an informed decision [about his next steps in his career path]. [B]efore being exposed to any of this I thought the NFL was really realistic. I feel like a lot of people would probably say that about themselves, but going through the amount of... well, what would the word be for this... playing football around a lot of guys who are actually going to the NFL, playing under coaches who have been there, provided a lot of insight into the fact that that's probably not going to be for me. So, knowing that okay, congrats, you made it to [University], but that's going to be the end of the line was just kind of a result of learning from everybody.

Pippin believed that the first-hand knowledge that he received from his coaches and

teammates helped him feel as though he was making an informed decision about the steps

he took as he navigated his career path. Their insight helped him to realize that his

football career would end at the university and to think about how he would navigate the

next steps on his career path as an engineer.

Gimli explained that he received support from different mentors including

coaches, business mentors, and the team chaplain. When asked about how mentors

affected the experience of preparing for navigating his career path, Gimli reflected on

how his mentors held him accountable for his career goals and his plan for making those

goals happen. He was able to ask them questions to gain information about their

experiences. When asked about how he was navigating his career path, he clarified:

Just leaning on [coaches, business mentors, and the team chaplain], finding out how they did it, leaning on them and just asking them questions really. And for

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the most part, just being able to talk through it, talk through the process and people to hold you accountable and tell you what’s real and what's. Sometimes, it’s easy to play yourself, that's something we say, I don't know how to translate that in any other way, but they just keep it real with you and just hold you accountable to your [career] goals and not just your [career] goals but your plan to get there. Like, "Hey, (Gimli), I don't know if this is the best way to attack it." And it gives me something to ponder on and I can go back and like we mentioned before, tweak the game plan, and see how I'm going to attack it.

Gimli’s mentors gave him ideas (information) for how he was going to approach

achieving his career goals. With this information he was able to adjust his career path

plan to better meet his career path goals as an entrepreneur. For example, one of his

mentors is a successful businessman in the local community who provided Gimli with

guidance on his career decisions. Being able to gain and process career guidance

provided by his mentor encouraged Gimli to contemplate making adjustments to his

career path plan, “tweak[ing] the game plan” as he navigated his career path. Thus,

information support was a factor that helped participants navigate their career paths.

Subtheme 2: Emotional Support: “…it just gives me a different viewpoint of

my life and what I'm going through right now.” The other type of support the

participants described having received as they navigated their career paths was emotional

support. Emotional support is centered on the personal qualities or behavior of a support

person, like providing reassurance. Overall, the participants noted that emotional support

helped them overcome moments of stress and anxiety while they were navigating their

career path.

As he navigated his career path, family and friends provided Gandalf with

emotional support and helped him see what he is good at, motivated him to do more, and

encouraged him to talk about who he is outside of sport. This resulted in the mental

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support he needed to feel reassured about who he is away from sport, so that he could

better navigate his career path. When asked about how family makes him feel supported,

he answered:

Well, besides coaches, [family and friends] really pick out what characteristics I have and what I'm good at. And they motivate me to do things coaches wouldn't ask me to do or talk about. And it's not about the physical; it's more about the mental. And so, talking to them, getting reassurance on who I am in a different aspect of sports and football, is... it's rejuvenating. Well, I mean, it just gives me a different viewpoint of my life and what I'm going through right now. You can't only go through the tunnel with one view; you need other aspects.

Emotional support, such as reassurance from his family, helped Gandalf to navigate his

career because he found that being able to talk to people and get reassurance on who he is

outside of football was rejuvenating. “Getting reassurance on who [Gandalf was] in a

different aspect of sports and football” was “rejuvenating” because having emotional

support allowed him to understand situations from different points of view. The

reassurance from his family on who he was in turn assisted his ability to navigate his

career path by providing him with the emotional support he needed to make decisions

regarding his career path.

Similarly, Legolas expressed that he felt a very strong bond with his family and

referred to them as his support system. There were moments when he would experience

frustration navigating his career path and he could rely on his family to be by his side to

help him persevere through that frustration. He gave an example:

[Family support] definitely had a very big impact [on my career path experience] …So I remember halfway through the semester, I got really, really just frustrated and stressed because I didn't feel like I was accomplishing what I wanted in either football or school. So, I was just able to call my dad and [sic] I told him I was just a little stressed, and this, and that, and he's like, "All right. I'm coming over this weekend." So, he booked plane ticket, came... It was like a Tuesday, he came on

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Thursday, we spent the weekend together, I talked to him, told him about my stress, and then he was like... And I was also stressing about this semester, and for the MCAT, and then the gap year.  And he was like, "I don't want you to worry about any of that.  Do what you have to do with sports.  Enjoy your last season. Study for the MCAT however you have to study and then we'll take care of the rest whenever we have to." So, it's just like having that reassurance that whenever I'm like feeling stressed, not only my dad, but same thing with my sisters and stuff, they're always there, and my mom, so that's pretty awesome.

Legolas’s family helped him to manage the stress of his semester, football, and the

MCAT. He believed that his family’s ability to provide reassurance when he was feeling

frustrated and stressed had been a source of emotional support during his career path

experience. Having emotional support assisted his career path experience by helping him

to better navigate it; by not focusing on what caused stress, he could better focus on his

career path decisions.

This theme illustrates that social support assists career path navigation, which

helps to answer the research question, “What factors help or hinder navigation of their

career path?” Even though institutional support is helpful, social support was indicated

by the participants as more helpful with the navigation of their career path. The

participants were questioned about the type of support they had as they navigated their

career paths, and each participant explained the significance of social support such as

coaches providing first-hand knowledge regarding student athlete career paths to help

with their career path plan. Therefore, having social support assists career path navigation

for Division 1 football student-athletes.

Conclusion

Because phenomenology is focused on understanding the voices of participants,

the participants in this study were selected because they were living through the Division

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1 football student-athlete career path experience and were willing to share their thoughts

and communicate their experiences in navigating their career paths and plans. The data

presented in this chapter was candid, as were the participants’ emotions and experiences.

While each participant is an exclusive individual with his own story to tell, three themes

emerged that reflected a shared experience: (a) Theme 1: Alternative Career Path

Planning, (b) Theme 2: Competing Time Demands Hinder Career Preparation, and (c)

Theme 3: Social Support Assists Career Path Navigation. This chapter presented the

essence of the Division 1 football career path experience through those themes. Those

themes gave voice to the career path experiences among Division 1 football student-

athletes as well as provided insight and a more profound understanding of their career

path experiences.

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Chapter 5: Discussion

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore how junior- and

senior-level Division 1 football student-athletes described their career path experience at

a medium-sized, private, Division 1 institution in the South through the lens of Super’s

(1950) career development theory. The research questions investigated were: (a) What

was the career path experience like for Division 1 football student-athletes? and (b) What

factors helped or hindered navigation of their career path? This chapter presents a

synopsis and discussion of the findings, their relationship to existing literature, future

practice, research, and theory implications, the study’s limitations, and conclusion.

Study Findings

The in-depth phenomenological investigation revealed three findings about the

Division 1 football student-athletes’ career path experience. The first finding, Alternative

Career Path Planning, suggested that having a pre-college alternative career path plan

(having a career plan that could be used to fall back on if their first plan did not work)

allowed the Division 1 football student-athletes to engage and take part in the career path

experience. For instance, some participants reported being less anxious about what they

were going to do when football was over and stated that it was easier to mentally focus

on pursuing their alternative careers because they had an alternative career path plan in

mind from the start of their career path experience. Having a plan already in place helped

them feel at ease because they felt more prepared for the transition to their alternative

career. Results from the second finding, Competing Time Demands Hinder Career

Preparation, revealed that the time demands of football were a hindrance to football

student-athletes’ career path navigation because the time demands made it difficult for

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them to fully invest in navigating their career path and pursuing their career goals while

in college. The final finding, Social Support Assists Career Path Navigation, uncovered

that social support assisted with football student-athletes’ navigation of their career path

by providing them with informational support and emotional support. For example,

informational support about the NFL draft experience from coaches helped six football

student-athletes to realize that their football career would end at the university and to

think about how they would navigate the next steps on their alternative career path plan.

Additionally, emotional support from family helped them to focus on their career path

decisions due to the reassurance they received from their family members during times of

frustration and stress.

In the first finding, Alternative Career Path Planning, the Division 1 football

student-athletes suggested that they were able to be pragmatic and make responsible

career decisions during college by having an alternative career path plan prior to

attending college. The participants seemed aware that the career option of being a

professional football player was not likely and they would eventually need to pursue an

alternative career path (e.g., engineering). As discovered in the findings of theme 1, the

majority of the participants began their alternative career path planning before they

started college. The narratives provided by Pippin, Legolas, and Frodo evidenced that for

some the planning was motivated by fulfilling a childhood dream, while for others it was

by someone in their social circle informing them of the importance of preparing for an

alternative career. Most participants revealed that they chose this private, Division 1,

research-intensive institution because they could pursue a major that supported their

alternative career path plans while playing football. Having an alternative career path

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plan to playing in the NFL made the football student-athletes feel more confident about

pursuing alternative careers and made navigating their alternative career path easier

because they had an alternative path plan to follow if their initial plan of playing football

professionally did not come to fruition. Some also recognized that having an alternative

career path was important even if they did make it to the NFL, because an NFL career is

not a lifelong one for professional players; it comes to an end and athletes often need

another career to fall back on.

Having a pre-college alternative career path plan helped the football student-

athletes navigate their career path more readily; there was no drop-off or transition into a

career because they were already working on pursuing their alternative career path, which

is contrary to the literature (Cox et al., 2009; Foster & Huml, 2017). Though a career as a

professional football player was not a feasible career path, they felt prepared for their

alternative careers because they had already been working toward careers they were

interested in at the start of college. Since these Division 1 football student-athletes had

an alternative career path plan, institutions should not assume that student-athletes are

entering college without a plan or with the sole goal of becoming a professional football

player (Anderson, 2021; Cox et al., 2009). Instead, institutions should create

opportunities for alternative career preparation support for their Division 1 student-

athletes.

With regard to the second theme, Competing Time Demands Hinder Career

Preparation, the Division 1 football student-athletes reported that finding time to reflect,

study, conduct research, and enroll in internships was difficult because of the time

commitment required for football. Since none of the football student-athletes had

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opportunities to pursue internships during their time in college, many viewed the lack of

an internship as an obstacle in their career path. Competing time demands were

especially hindering to seniors, who were trying to complete classes and satisfy the

institution’s graduation requirements with the credentials needed for a career before the

school year was over, as evidenced by Gandalf in the second finding, Competing Time

Demands Hinder Career Preparation. Most of the participants noted that if they had had

more time for academics and internships, they would have felt more prepared for their

alternative career paths outside of football. As the student-athletes navigated their career

paths, they were tasked with using their own personal time in college to explore potential

career paths outside of professional sport. This is significant because it highlights the

need for the athletic department to incorporate more time for academics, internships, and

ultimately career preparation for Division 1 football student-athletes.

The final theme, Social Support Assists Career Path Navigation, included two

subthemes: (a) Informational Support and (b) Emotional Support. Most of the

respondents indicated that they received informational support about what steps they

needed to take toward their desired careers from members of their social circles, such as

coaches and teammates, who had an understanding of the professional football industry.

The first-hand knowledge on how the draft process works from people known to the

student-athletes helped to ensure that the student-athletes were making informed

decisions about what steps to take when navigating their career paths as athletes. This

finding of informational support is interesting because it highlights a need for institutions

to be intentional in the hiring and training of individuals, such as coaches, with

knowledge of the NFL draft process (and of the unlikelihood of students playing

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professionally post-college), and that those individuals should be encouraged to have

these conversations with student-athletes to provide the informational support student-

athletes need to navigate their career path appropriately.

Emotional support also came from members of the football student-athletes’

social circle who provided caring support in moments of stress and anxiety as the student-

athletes navigated their career path. For instance, student-athletes received emotional

support in the form of reassurance about their identity outside of sport from family

members and others in their social circle. The student-athletes expressed that the

emotional support they received helped them to navigate their career paths; it helped

them by providing them as student-athletes the necessary motivation, reassurance, and

help they needed to overcome moments of stress and anxiety related to their career paths.

Relationship of Findings to Prior Research

The following section links the study findings to existing literature and theory.

The sections are subdivided by the findings. The findings for this study both support and

contradict the literature pertaining to the career path experiences of football student-

athletes.

Alternative Career Path Planning

“Alternative Career Path Planning” described what the planning for an alternative

career path experience was like for Division 1 football student-athletes. Super (1950)

identified career maturity as being able to be pragmatic and make responsible career

decisions with an awareness of the requirements needed to make such choices (Levinson

et al., 1998). The Alternative Career Path Planning finding revealed that the Division 1

football student-athletes were able to be pragmatic and demonstrate an awareness of how

to make responsible career decisions by having an alternative career path plan and

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following through with it. The ability to plan for a career is a testimony to their career

maturity. Super (1990) defined career development as the preparation for a chosen

career. Correspondingly, Super (1950, 1990) identified career maturity as an essential

measure of a person’s career development. As evidenced by Pippin, Legolas, and Frodo

in the first finding, the participants in this study chose this university because it allowed

them to enroll in the degree of their choice and so pursue their pre-college alternative

career path plan. This suggests that the student-athletes were looking for an institution to

not only support their football ambitions, but their alternative career path ambitions as

well.

Findings within the theme of Alternative Career Path Planning support that the

football student-athletes had career maturity since the football student-athletes were able

to create an alternative career path plan by making the decisions necessary to be

successful in that alternative career, like selecting an institution that supported their

career goals. For example, Pippin shared that he had plans to study mechanical

engineering prior to enrolling in college. Similarly, Legolas aspired to pursue medicine.

These subject areas were offered at their institution. This contradicts a study by Watson

and Kissinger (2007) regarding career development. Watson and Kissinger (2007) found

that athletes have a higher probability than their nonathlete peers of facing problems (e.g.,

managing personal goals) with career maturity. Cox, Sadberry, McGuire, and McBride

(2009) found that football student-athletes’ focus on football results in them ignoring

other career options. Additionally, the NCAA (2019b) suggested that student-athletes

fail to make alternative career plans because they think that there is a better chance for

them to play professionally than earn a college degree. The literature also reported that

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student-athletes perceive career development as a threat to their athletic identity and their

dream playing professionally (Good et al., 1993; Brewer et al., 2017). The student-

athletes in this study, however, did not face problems with career maturity and had a

realistic sense of their prospects of going professional in the NFL and the need to pursue

alternative career paths. For instance, Pippin reflected, “And the blueprint I always had

in my head was, ‘I'm going to get this degree and if I go play in the NFL, then I'll have a

degree when I retire. And if I don't play in the NFL, I still have a degree and I just

skipped that detour.’" The notion of having an alternative career path plan is supported by

Foster and Huml (2017), as they reported that student-athletes often have multiple

academic aspirations.

Additionally, within the Alternative Career Path Planning finding, the football

student-athletes expressed confidence with their alternative career path plans and

excitement in fulfilling those plans because they were invested in those careers and did

not have to worry about what to do when football was over. Chickering’s (1969) sixth

vector focuses on developing purpose; during this task, college students begin to identify

why they are earning their degree. Chickering (1969) suggested that students determine

the development of their purpose around finding a career, making a wage, and developing

skills. Through experiences in college, students realize what motivates them and what

they feel to be most satisfying (Chickering, 1969). The finding Alternative Career Path

Planning supported Chickering (1969). Alternative Career Path Planning showed that the

football student-athletes felt satisfied with their chosen alternative careers and felt

confident in their abilities to be successful in those careers. The football student-athletes

in this study recognized the value of pursuing a degree, regardless of whether or not they

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played professional football, which is why they developed alternative career path plans

before entering college—which they then refined while attending college with further

input and support from the mentors they had prior to college or those they gained while

attending college.

Furthermore, the finding Alternative Career Path Planning revealed that the

football student-athletes in this study did not have trouble transitioning out of the sport,

as suggested in previous literature (Foster & Huml, 2017; Pearson & Petitpas, 1990).

When asked about their experience transitioning into an alternative career, the

participants reported that while they were sad about football ending, there was no

transition into an alternative career because they were already pursuing the alternative

career path that they had in mind prior to entering college. The literature, however,

reported that three out of four former student-athletes have trouble transitioning out of a

competitive sport into an alternative career path (NCAA, 2018). The literature also

suggested that given student-athletes’ participation in intercollegiate athletics, there is a

fear that they are inadequately trained for post-college endeavors, as many student-

athletes are focused on their sport without regard for an institutional exit strategy that

would transition them out of sport and prepare them for an alternative career path (Adler

& Adler, 1991; Fuller, 2014; Taylor & Ogilvie, 1994). The football student-athletes in

this study all had an alternative career path plan before entering college. The student-

athletes expressed that they felt like there was no drop-off or transition when football was

over, as a result of having this alternative career path plan in place. They were able to

move forward seamlessly with their alternative career path plans.

Additionally, the Alternative Career Path Planning finding discovered that

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football student-athletes have an identity outside of athletics. This study found that the

football student-athletes had alternative goals that were separate from the sport that they

had already invested time in exploring. The literature reported that student-athletes can

be inhibited by both identity foreclosure (early commitment to an identity as an athlete

without the exploration of its individualized value or possible alternative identities) and

by a high athletic identity (the extent to which someone identifies with the athlete role)

(Brewer et al., 2017; Marcia, 1966; Murphy et al., 1996). This occurs because students

who identify strongly with their athletic persona are less likely to explore other career

options due to the level of their involvement in sports (Brewer et al., 2017; Murphy et al.,

1996). Similarly, a study by Cross and Fouke (2019) revealed that student-athletes in

high profile sports, such as football, identify more closely with successful athletic

achievement rather than career success. Furthermore, Fuller (2014) suggested that

student-athletes often view themselves as athlete-students, with their athletic identity

taking priority over their student identity due to their identity role conflict, which could

result in a turbulent transition as they struggle with identifying themselves and preparing

for a career. The student-athletes in this study had already come to terms with the idea

that one day football would be over and that they would have an alternative career path

when that day arrived. Being an athlete and continuing on a professional athlete path was

not the only goal study participants had set; they had an alternative career path plan as

well.

Moreover, the participants in this study were all able to have an identity outside of

sport. Thus, study participants had a pre-college alternative career path plan. This is

contrary to Coakley’s (2009, 2017) theory which suggests that a key challenge facing

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athletes transitioning out of intercollegiate athletics is the mission of restructuring their

identities outside of sport participation. The football student-athletes in this study did not

experience the challenge of restructuring their identities because they already had an

identity outside of sport. They identified with their alternative career path choices, such

as businessman, doctor, or special tactics officer. Hence, they were able to make

alternative career paths plans that they were excited about because the alternative career

was also an aspiration that was important to them and reflected a passion of theirs. Adler

and Adler (1987) also suggested student-athletes could be more susceptible to having

inadequate career decision-making skills due to their athlete-student role conflict. The

student-athletes in this study partially contradicted Adler and Adler (1987); they

recognized that their time in sport would be short lived, even if they played

professionally. Thus, the football student-athletes entered college with an alternative

career path plan which in turn facilitated their overall career path experience.

Competing Time Demands Hinder Career Preparation This phenomenological investigation indicated that Division 1 football student-

athletes are challenged by the time demands of football in the finding “Competing Time

Demands Hinder Career Preparation.” This finding revealed competing time demands

between football and academics was a hindrance to the navigation of football student-

athletes' career paths because it made it difficult for them to fully invest in their

alternative career paths. Similarly, the NCAA (2017) has reported that many student-

athletes are challenged with using their time in college as an opportunity to explore

potential career paths outside of professional sport. Division 1 football players log the

most hours in-season per week in men’s sports, which is an average of 42 hours per week

(NCAA, 2017). Furthermore, a study by Tarver (2020) identified the commitment to

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sport limits student-athletes’ exposure to career development activities like internships.

This study found that the football student-athletes were challenged with finding time to

prepare for their alternative career because of the time demands of football. For example,

part of the reason the time demands presented a challenge to Pippin’s career preparation

was that the time demands of football conflicted with his classes. Also, Gandalf

explained that having more time would have helped to prepare for his future because if he

had more time his academic performance would have improved which would have helped

put him in a position to be successful in a career path outside of football. Furthermore,

while they had alternative career paths in mind, they often did not have the time to pursue

preparatory activities for that career outside of football. Comparably, Adler and Adler

(1987) found that due to the stressors of athletics, college student-athletes may have

reduced time for academics and career planning. Finding time to reflect, study, conduct

research, and enroll in internships was difficult for the football student-athletes in this

study because of the time commitment required for football. This difficulty of not having

enough time to engage in commitments outside of football was viewed by the student

athletes in this study as a hindrance during their career path experiences, causing caused

undue stress and anxiety.

Within the finding, Competing Time Demands Hinder Career Preparation, four

participants reported that senior year is especially demanding on football student-athletes'

time as they are trying to complete classes and meet the additional requirements to

graduate while playing football. The notion that senior year is especially demanding is

consistent with the literature, which indicates that seniors experience more pressures due

to the demands of graduation, job placement, the transition into adulthood, and the

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unavoidable change and sense of loss related to college coming to an end (Covington,

2017; Pistilli et al., 2003). If the football student-athletes had more structured time

allocated for academics and internships in their schedule, then they would likely feel

better prepared for their chosen careers according to this study’s findings.

Social Support Assists Career Path Navigation The final finding, “Social Support Assists Career Path Navigation,” revealed that

social support assisted with the football student-athletes’ navigation of their career path

by providing them with both informational support and emotional support. In exploring

the various types of support reported in this study, it was found that while institutional

support services such as tutoring, organization Apps, and job placement programs were

mentioned, these services were not as influential to the football student-athletes’ career

path experience as either emotional support or informational support. Although a study

done by the NCAA (2009) showed that Division 1 football players were the most likely

to use tutoring services, this was only due to Division 1 football programs requiring that

their college student-athletes use the various academic support services available to the

athletes (NCAA, 2009). The Division 1 football student-athletes were using the

institution’s academic support services, like tutoring, because their program required it.

In this study, however, these services were not identified by the participants as the most

helpful for their career path navigation, which is slightly different from what the NCAA

reported in 2009. Instead, informational and emotional support from family and others in

their social circle (e.g., coaches, mentors) were found to be more helpful.

The student-athletes’ ability to identify resources that would influence their career

choices does, however, support Taylor and Betz’s (1983) career decision and self-

efficacy theory (CDSE). In this theory, Taylor and Betz (1983) defined career decision

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self-efficacy as a person’s belief in their ability to complete the tasks related to career

decision making. One of these tasks is occupational information, where the person

develops a list of priorities on the effectiveness of actions that support their career

development. In this study it was found that, while the institutional support services were

helpful to the participants, these services were not as significant to the football student-

athletes’ career path experiences as the informational support provided by trusted coaches

and mentors, who knew the participants as people and understood their career goals and

experiences. Students were able to get a lot of the information they needed about their

future career paths from the informational support provided by these trusted coaches and

mentors. This informational support included details on going pro in the NFL, the draft

process, and on how to pursue their alternative career path plans. Having this

informational support from their coaches and mentors helped them feel more confident in

their decisions about their career path since they had information that they felt came from

experienced and reliable sources.

This study also found that the emotional support the football student-athletes

received from family, teammates, coaches, and others in their social circle was helpful in

their career path experiences because it provided reassurance and eased anxiety about

career decisions. And while the participating institution does employ a sports

psychologist, only one participant acknowledged that as a supporting resource. This may

be due to Division 1 student-athletes’ self-perception as superior, which acts as an

internal barrier to seeking mental health treatment (Schinke et al., 2018). Alternatively, it

could be due to the stigma associated with mental health interventions, and not

necessarily because of their self-perception. However, the infrequent use of a sports

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psychologist in this study implies that they are not a major factor in supporting the career

path experiences of student-athletes.

Football coaches, in particular, were cited as providing both informational and

emotional support. The coaches were able to assist in the football student-athletes’

pursuit of alternative careers by providing insight and encouragement regarding their

career prospects. The nature of support from the coaches identified in this study

challenged the literature which reported that coaches prioritize the production of winning

teams to satisfy the multimillion-dollar television contracts that have amplified the

commercialization of college sports as opposed to prioritizing student-athlete needs and

career goals (Croissant, 2001). Within the finding Social Support Assists Career Path

Navigation, it was suggested that the football student-athletes’ alternative career

ambitions were also emotionally supported by the coaches at the university. The football

student-athletes reported that they felt the coaches had their best interest in mind and

helped to hold the student-athletes accountable to their career goals and plans to achieve

those goals even outside of football.

Furthermore, the football student-athletes reported that the informational and

emotional support from coaches, mentors, and those in their social circles (e.g., family),

was helpful for their career path experience because it originated from people who

understood the professional football industry or the industry of the alternative career.

The student-athletes placed value on those supports because they felt that they came from

individuals who had the student-athletes’ best interest in mind. This need for

informational and emotional support reinforces previous calls in the literature such as

Broughton and Neyer’s (2001), who state:

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The support of well-trained, staff, coaches, athletic department personnel, and the campus community is necessary for a successful and comprehensive athletic advising and counseling program. It is imperative that coaches and athletic administrators recognize the academic and personal world of the student-athlete as much as they focus on the athletic arena. (p.51).

Similarly, empirical evidence suggests that in order to facilitate student-athletes’ holistic

development and the transition experienced as junior and seniors, student-athletes need

supportive relationships and proximal role models to maintain their mental health

(Schinke et al., 2018). The findings from this study support Schinke’s (2018) findings

regarding the need for supportive relationships with regard to mental health. Schinke,

Stambulova, Gi, and Moore (2018) also encourage recognition of the need for mental

health literacy and affordable relevant educational resources. Having access to holistic

(informational and emotional) support for their careers from professionals with whom

they have rapport supports the career navigation experience of student-athletes by

providing them with ideas (information) on how to achieve their career goals as well

emotional support when making career-related decisions. Having rapport with the

professionals offering career navigation support is important because of the degree of

support and trust that is already established in that relationship.

Implications for Practice, Research, and Theory

This study found that football student-athletes have career maturity, as well as an

identity outside of sport, and that they are entering college with alternative career plans.

Additionally, they are challenged with the time demands of football and would benefit

from investing less time in football so that they may engage in more research, internships,

academics, and career reflection. Furthermore, football student-athletes felt most

supported when they were given both informational and emotional support from their

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social circle. Results from these findings hold several implications for practice, research,

and theory that are discussed below.

Implications for Practice

The participants in this study expressed that having an alternative career plan

before entering college facilitated the navigation of their career path experience. This

finding is useful for athletic administrators, academic advisors, and career center

employees because it can help them to work together and develop more intentional

institutional practices to support Division 1 football student-athletes during their career

path experience. For example, career centers could provide more career services that are

geared toward the football student-athletes. One way career centers could do this is by

teaming up with the athletic department and getting more involved in the recruitment

process by providing a pre-college orientation specifically for prospective student-

athletes. In this pre-college orientation, they could discuss the prospects of being a

professional football player, so the student-athletes would know up front to plan for

alternative careers. They could also provide the student-athletes with career resources

and showcase how the skills they acquired in sport could transfer to alternative careers.

This should increase the football student-athletes’ awareness of the skills they have

developed during their experience as athletes and encourage student-athletes to consider

how and when these skills could be applied to career, social, or even financial settings.

Second, athletic administrators could be more intentional in the hiring of

professional mentors as well as providing training for coaches to better fulfill the role of

mentors. The football student-athletes in this study all reported that what supported them

most during their career path experience was receiving help from individuals (e.g.,

coaches), who had an understanding of the NFL draft process (and the unlikelihood of

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going professional) and who they believed genuinely cared about them. Providing

student-athletes access to mentors with knowledge of the NFL process and career

prospects is critical for a positive career path experience because the football student-

athletes expressed a need for support from experienced mentors. By hiring such mentors,

the athletic department could provide the football student-athletes with much-needed

emotional and informational support during their career path experience. These mentors

could be trained on how to connect student-athletes to offices and services on campus

like counseling services for identity issues, career services for employment, or graduate

school opportunities. These mentors could also encourage athletes and coaches to

recognize the need for mental health literacy, provide relevant educational resources, and

destigmatize mental health interventions. These mentors should do this because this

study found that student-athletes, due to time demands, encountered increased levels of

stress and anxiety; however, none mentioned engaging counseling or mental health

services, instead preferring to speak with mentors, family, and friends. This is an area

where appropriate guidance from mentors to school resources for mental health is

recommended due to the study’s findings. Since these professionals also have access to

established resources, they can use their positions and accrued resources at their

designated universities to provide support for football student-athletes.

In addition to providing training to faculty and student affairs professionals on

how to support the career path experience of student-athletes, teams should be established

with these mentors that involve faculty that have contact with student-athletes. This

would allow the mentors to serve as a bridge in communication to allow other

stakeholders like student affairs professionals, parents, faculty, and counselors to work

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with the athletic department to develop services that address the academic, athletic,

social, and personal needs of the student-athlete. For example, these teams could

collaborate in the development of a senior seminar course that focuses on successful

strategies for leaving the Division 1 environment. There could also be a workshop that

provides incoming parents of student-athletes with effective strategies for serving as

positive social support resources to their student-athlete. Providing effective strategies

for parents of student-athletes is merited because this study found that the student-athlete

participants placed a high importance on the support provided by family members.

It is also important to consider the student-athletes as stakeholders, as they are the

ones experiencing the phenomenon. In the interest of holistic development, a mentoring

initiative could be established with upper-class and graduate student-athletes that aids

student-athletes with the transition from high school, promotes professional development,

and provides strategies to address job opportunities. Upper-class and graduate student-

athletes could serve as mentors to freshman, transfer, and local high school student-

athletes. Upper-class and graduate students understand what the student-athletes will

encounter, and as a result, they could help incoming student-athletes to navigate their

career path more effectively. Furthermore, a panel of former student-athletes could share

advice based on their job search and career experience with the upper-class and graduate

student-athletes, because the findings from theme 3 indicate that student-athletes are

more receptive to advice given from sources that have gone through career path

experiences similar to theirs.

Lastly, a common concern for the football student-athletes was not having enough

time to participate in internships and other preparatory activities that would help prepare

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them for their career. The participants expressed that with more time for internships and

other preparatory activities (e.g., research experience or volunteering) they would have

felt more prepared for their alternative careers because the internships and preparatory

activities would have provided them with the needed experience. Athletic department

administrators and faculty should promote the need for and importance of participating in

internships and other preparatory activities. The athletic department could work with the

career center to implement a program that would offer internship opportunities. Faculty

could engage student-athletes in conversations about life after sport and establish

leadership, internship, and research opportunities within their department that would

promote student-athletes to excel in areas beyond athletics. An internship would not only

provide an opportunity for work experience, but it would also allow student-athletes to

build a rapport with experienced professionals, which would provide them with the social

support that they also expressed needing. Since the student-athletes would develop a

rapport with the experienced individuals that they are interning with, they would feel

more influenced by the informational and emotional support provided by those

experienced individuals.

Implications for Research This study took place at a private Division 1 institution in the South; therefore,

data was limited to the collaborating institution. In future studies, it may be useful to

explore other revenue-generating Division 1 sports to see if similar themes arise. For

example, a study on the career experiences of Division 1 basketball student-athletes could

be done since this another large revenue-generating sport in Division 1 schools which

serves as a pathway to professional careers in The National Basketball Association

(NBA). Future researchers could also examine differences in team versus individual

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sport participation, to see if those who play an individual Division 1 sport, like track and

field, have similar career path experiences to the football student-athletes in this study. It

may also be interesting to research the experiences of student-athletes that have Olympic

competition goals and how that affects their career path experience, since similar time

commitment and identity issues arise when pursuing participation in the Olympics.

Moreover, it would be interesting to research further if there is an impact on

career path experiences for Division 1 football student-athletes based on time spent on

the field versus time spent on the bench. Exploring the impact of time spent on the field

would be interesting because it could influence how strongly a student identifies as an

athlete and therefore impact their career path experience.

Another interesting thing to explore in future research would be an analysis of

what forms of communication may reach student-athletes more effectively. In other

words, what is more effective to reach this population: emails, texts, word of mouth, in

person meetings, etc., as it took time to reach saturation during this study because not

everyone was checking their emails.

Additionally, future studies can expand the sample size and conduct a comparison

of Division 1 public versus Division 1 private institutions, as well as of the differences in

schools with locally known versus nationally known collegiate athletic programs. These

studies would extend the findings about the career path experience for Division 1 football

student-athletes by providing higher educational professionals with an understanding of

the phenomenon as it relates to their sport or institution type. In this way, they could

specifically address the needs of their unique student-athlete population. Also, since

homogenous sampling and criterion sampling were used in this study, that may restrict

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the generalizability of the findings. Future studies could be quantitative, to test whether

the findings in this study are generalizable.

Implications for Theory

This study used Super’s (1950) career development theory as a framework and,

by focusing on the football student-athlete career path experience, extended the use of

that theory and added to the existing literature framed by that theory. Super’s (1950)

career development theory considered career maturity as an essential measure of one’s

career development. According to Super (1957), individuals who demonstrate career

maturity have the following qualities: the capacity to gather information about

themselves in order to understand themselves, the capacity to develop the ability to make

informed decisions, the capacity to integrate knowledge of self and knowledge of the

work world, and the capacity to integrate all the above-mentioned and apply them to the

career development process. This concept extends to Division 1 football student-athletes;

in this study Division 1 football student-athletes were able to demonstrate their career

maturity by having a pre-college alternative career plan. A pre-college alternative career

plan is evidence that these student-athletes were engaged with career planning and career

exploration, as well as understood the workforce and career decision-making process.

Super (1957) defined career maturity using five scopes: planfulness, exploration,

information gathering, decision making, and reality orientation. This study reflects

Super’s career maturity tenets because the football student-athletes entered college with

some awareness of the probability of playing professionally as well as with the awareness

that, if they played professionally, their football careers would be short-lived and, thus,

they needed an alternative career. The football student-athletes were able to integrate the

knowledge they had of themselves and the working world to make informed decisions

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about their careers.

More specifically, this study has extended Super’s second scope and third scope.

The second scope, exploration, is where a person develops a skillset within a particular

career path and exercises autonomy. The findings related to exploration and exercising

autonomy were evident in this study. The football student-athletes had to balance their

alternative career goals and their football goals, which for some meant missing practice to

attend class. In this way they were developing a personal skillset by attending classes

and exercising autonomy by choosing to attend class over football or vice versa.

Moreover, according to Super (1975), regarding the third scope, establishment: “although

this life stage begins several years after leaving school, it should be a vital concern to

career education as it is the stage which school and college lead to” (p. 30). This is the

time when individuals should be concerned with career advancement, stable work

environments, and potential for growth and promotions. All of the participants in this

study were involved in majors which were directly related to their future chosen careers,

with some having already started their own businesses.

Furthermore, Super (1950) stressed the importance of understanding and being

able to predict a career and indicated that the closer the elected career is to the

individual’s self-concept, the more significant the individual’s career choice will be. The

participants in this study elected alternative careers that reflected their passions and,

ultimately, looked forward to pursuing their alternative careers. Additionally, many of

the football student-athletes embraced the ambition of pursuing more than one career;

acknowledging that, in today’s working world, it is possible to have more than one career

in a lifetime. This suggests that Super’s (1950) career development stages (i.e., growth

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stage, exploration stage, establishment stage, maintenance stage, and decline stage)

occurred cyclically rather than linearly for the Division 1 football student-athletes. Since

a football student-athlete is pursuing more than one career and aims to have more than

one career in a lifetime, they may go through Super’s (1950) career development stages

more than once.

Although Super’s theory is a lifespan theory, this study suggests that Super’s

stages can occur in a discrete time period, like college. Super’s developmental process

can be separated into a series of life stages: growth, exploration, establishment,

maintenance, and decline (Super, 1953). In the original adaptation of this theory, these

five life stages had assigned ages and time frames designated for each stage. However,

Super eventually modified the theory to remove age generalizations (Super, 1990), which

supports its use within the discrete time period of a student-athlete’s time in higher

education.

Study Limitations

While this study aimed to provide insight to higher education employees who

work with Division 1 football student-athletes, it is not without limitations. To begin,

there were some sample limitations. All participants attended a private, research-

intensive university in the South; thus, the data was limited to that institution type and

may or may not be transferable to other institutional contexts. For instance, this

institution has a strong support system in place for its football student-athletes and

recently set a school-record of over 200 student-athletes on the Atlantic Coast Conference

Honor Roll. Additionally, the most common major for football players at this institution

is criminology; therefore, the participants in this study may not be representative of the

entire Division 1 football population. As a part of homogenous sampling, the volunteers

105

were required to already know that they have not been drafted for the NFL; had they been

drafted the results could have been very different. Also, the sample size was small,

which limited the generalizability. Additionally, this study used the football roster to

email a study invitation to prospective participants; the university’s athletic department

was also provided the recruitment request with information on the study as a source of

participant recruitment. This may have been somewhat limiting because some students

may have participated because they were referred to this study by athletic personnel, a

professor, or a teammate at their institution.

Furthermore, it should be noted that this study was originally investigating the

career transition experience of Division 1 football student-athletes and pivoted to focus

on their career path experience. This was because the finding, Alternative Career Path

Planning, revealed that the population was not experiencing a career transition; therefore,

the study could not provide a definition of the career transition experience. The data

collected by the researcher did not support the essence of the research question as framed,

and thus the research question was revised ex post facto. Five participants were

interviewed once, and only three of those five participated in the follow-up interview,

which had additional questions regarding career path experiences. This was a limitation

because participation in the follow-up interviews from all five participants would have

likely generated richer data regarding career path experiences. Also, by collecting data

through interviews, the researcher depended on self-reported data. As the participants

made meaning of their own experiences, results could have varied if different participants

were included in the study, even different participants at the same institution. Lastly, the

findings are subjective. The findings are a result of the researcher’s interpretation of the

106

data and, as result, could allow for other researchers to interpret the data differently.

Conclusion

Overall, this study was intended to help athletic administrators, coaches, academic

advisors, and career center employees understand what is needed for Division 1 football

student-athletes as they navigate their career paths. The NCAA requires member

institutions to intentionally prepare student-athletes for life after sport through life skills

programs like CHAMPS/Life Skills (NCAA News, 2003). However, a study by Navarro

(2014) reported that these programs are not providing adequate support and preparation.

This current study sheds light on the phenomenon of Division 1 football student-athletes’

career path experience to gain insight into what support is needed for Division 1 football

student-athletes who are navigating their career path and how they experience navigating

their career path. Covington (2017) and Rader (2019) recommended that universities be

more responsive to individual student-athletes’ diverse needs rather than implementing a

generic standard of assistance based on expediency and simplicity. Similarly, this study

revealed that it is important that practitioners encourage habits, like mentoring, to support

this population. All in all, this study calls for Division 1 football institutions to be

sincerely responsive to the diverse needs of their football student-athletes, like providing

mentoring from those with NFL draft experience.

Given the benefits to the institution (e.g., serving as a marketing tool) of a

successful Division 1 football program, utilization of the football student-athletes’ talent

should, at minimum, secure holistic preparation for future alternative career pursuits. To

best support football student-athletes’ career path experience, career centers should

provide more career services that are geared toward the football student-athletes, like pre-

college orientations that provide the student-athletes with career resources and increase

107

the student-athletes’ awareness of how their skills could be applied to their future careers.

Also, providing access to supportive mentors with knowledge of the NFL process is

critical for a positive career path experience because football student-athletes are able to

receive first-hand knowledge as well as receive emotional support from individuals they

believe can understand their unique experience. Additionally, athletic department

administrators should work with the career center to provide opportunities for internships

and other preparatory activities, so that student-athletes can benefit from work experience

as well as receive social support from individuals with experience.

Finally, this study attempted to address a void in the current literature about the

career path experience of Division 1 football student-athletes and recommends that more

research be done to expand the data and better address the diverse needs of this unique

population. It is imperative that Division 1 football institutions are sincerely responsive

to the diverse needs of their football student-athletes, instead of employing a universal

standard of service centered on convenience and ease of practice.

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Appendix A

Demographic Questionnaire and Interview Script

Demographic Questionnaire:

1. Assigned Pseudonym: ________________

2. Year in College: __________________________

3. Age: ___________________________

4. Race/Ethnicity: _______________________________________________________

5. Major(s): ____________________________________________________________

6. Minor(s): ____________________________________________________________

7. G.P.A.: ___________________

8. Sport and Position(s) played: _______________________________________

Interview Script

Thank you for volunteering to be a participant in this study and for allowing me this

opportunity to ask you questions about your experience as a Division 1 football

student-athlete. This interview will be recorded. Your responses will help with the

understanding of what the career path transition experience is like for Division 1

football student-athletes as they transition from a professional athlete career path to

an alternative career path.

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1. Tell me about your career goals at the start of college and your career goals at this

point in your college career.

1. Probe for changes and differences in career goals and what led to those

changes.

2. Probe: Describe the “drafting” period, what that experience was like and

how you felt. Did it affect your thinking about your career? How?

Confirm that they were not drafted to play football professionally.

2. Can you describe the experience of making the change from preparing for a career

in the pros to thinking about what else you could do?

a. What kind of challenges did you face during this time? How did you deal

with them?

b. What kind of support did you turn to as you experienced this transition?

Why?

Probe for the nature of the support sought or received and the

outcomes, e.g., was it helpful? How was it helpful? If no support

seemed readily available, what did you do, etc.?

3. How did the shift from planning to become a professional athlete to planning to

become something else affect you personally? How did you feel about this

experience?

4. Describe how you went about deciding on another career once you found out you were

not drafted to play football professionally.

Probe for the challenges they faced in making this choice and what

support they turned to help them make that decision.

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5. How do you feel about your capability to navigate this next chapter of your life,

pursuing a career that is not playing professional football?

Probe for challenges they anticipate and how they plan to address

those challenges.

Probe for satisfaction/disappointment with their new career path.

Probe for how confident they feel in their new choice of career path

and why.

6. What advice would you give to another student-athlete about making the transition

from a professional athlete career plan to a different career plan?

Probe for support they’d recommend, how they would have mentally

prepared themselves, what they would have done differently.

“Thank you for your time to do this interview. Your comments are valuable and

important to my study. I hope that you have a wonderful day!”

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Follow-Up Interview

1. How would you describe what it was like for you to move from pursuing a

professional football career path to [the new] career path? Can you explain how it feels for you to make this transition?

a. How would you describe what this career path transition experience is like to a student currently playing football as a student athlete to help them prepare for what the experience will be like if they transition?

2. How does having an [alternative career goal] affect how you have experienced the

transition away from pursuing football professionally? a. Why does this affect your transition?

3. How does having [said support] affect what it has been like for you to transition

to a career path other than professional football? a. Why does this affect your transition?

4. How do you feel the time demands of football impacted your ability to prepare for

an alternative career? a. Why do you think this impacted your transition?

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Appendix B

Initial Email to Athletic Department

Hello, (First Name). I hope this message finds you well. I am working on my doctorate

in higher education at the [University] in Higher Education Leadership. In partial

fulfillment of my degree, I am doing my dissertation, whose research focus is on

exploring the career path decisions of Division 1 football student-athletes. Would it be

possible to get the names and university emails of junior and senior football participants

as well as recent (Spring 2020) graduates for interviews this summer? (Please note that I

will not be using the [University’s] name nor the participants’ names in the dissertation.)

Let me know as soon as you can. I understand that this is a busy time and greatly

appreciate your time and consideration!

Best,

Alexandria Ford M.S. Education Acf120@miami.edu

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Initial Email to Participants

Hello, (Student’s First Name). I hope this message finds you well. I am working on my

doctorate at the [University] in Higher Education Leadership, and I am preparing to do

the research for my dissertation, which focuses on the career decisions of Division 1

football student-athletes. Because of your involvement as a football player, I’m asking

you to participate, as it will help the [University] as well as other Division 1 football

institutions have a better understanding of what the experience is like for student-athletes

in Division 1 football who move from a pro football player career path to a different

career path. To take part in my research, you must be classified as a junior or senior on

the football roster with UM’s athletic department and the NCAA as a Division 1 student-

athlete or be a recent graduate. You also must have originally intended to play football

professionally and now know that you will not be following that career. And you need to

be OK with being interviewed on Zoom. If you meet these criteria, your input and

opinion are highly valuable and would be greatly appreciated! The interviews will last 30

to 45 minutes and take place via Zoom during a time convenient for you. If you are

interested in volunteering to participate, please respond to this email. I am also happy to

answer any questions you have about my study or your participation.

Thank you for your time and consideration!

Alexandria Ford M.S. Education Acf120@miami.edu

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Follow-Up E-Mail to Students who Respond to Recruitment Email with Interest to Participate

Dear (Student’s First Name), Thank you for your help in this project! Your experiences are valuable, and I would greatly appreciate your participation. To participate in this study, you should be classified on the [University’s] football roster, be registered as a junior or senior, and you must have originally intended to play football professionally and now know that you will not be following that career path. If you meet these criteria and agree to participate, please send me three dates and times that are most convenient for you to participate in an interview. I will then respond to one of those dates with a Zoom invitation. The interview will take about 30-45 minutes. I have attached a verbal consent form with more about the information about the study and your rights for your review. If you have questions about the study, please contact me and I will be happy to answer them. Again, I really appreciate your interest in participating. Sincerely, Alexandria Ford [University] Student

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Appendix C

Recruitment Flyer

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Appendix D

IRB Approval Letter

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Appendix E

Participant Descriptions

Name Description Pippin A 21-year-old, White male at a medium-

sized private institution in the South, where he plays Division 1 football. Pippin is a Junior and is majoring in Mechanical Aerospace Engineering with a 3.93 GPA. Pippin aspires to earn a Master’s Degree in Engineering. His career goal is to be an engineer.

Aragorn A 20-year-old, African American male at a medium-sized private institution in the South, where he plays Division 1 football. He is currently a Junior and majoring in Business Management with a 2.4 GPA. His career goal is to open his own gym.

Legolas A 21-year-old, Hispanic male at a medium-sized private institution in the South, where he plays Division 1 football. In high school he played at school and a sports training destination. Legolas is a senior and is majoring in Neuroscience. He has a 3.89 GPA and is preparing for the MCATs. Legolas’s career goal is to be an orthopedic doctor.

Elrond A 21-year-old, White male at a medium-sized private institution in the South, where he plays Division 1 football. Elrond is a senior and is majoring in Criminology with a 3.0 GPA. His career goal is to join the U.S. Air Force as a special tactics officer.

Gimli A 22-year-old, African American male at a medium-sized private institution in the South, where he is a Division 1 football player. He is classified as a Senior on the football roster. Gimli’s major is in Music Business, and his GPA is a 3.3. His

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career goal is to “be the biggest entrepreneur that could possibly be”.

Gandalf A 21-year-old, White male at a medium-sized private institution in the South, where he plays Division 1 football. Gandalf is a senior and is majoring in Economics and has a 3.4 GPA. He has launched his own business. He wants to launch his bathing suit company and keep it going on throughout the rest of his life.

Sauron A 20-year-old, African American male at a medium-sized private institution in the South, where he plays Division 1 football. He started college one year early and is now a senior majoring in Criminology. He has a 2.9 GPA and is working towards licensing his own trucking company. Sauron has two career goals. He wants to own his own trucking company and he wants to work in real estate.

Frodo A 22-year-old, Hispanic male at a medium-sized private institution in the South, where he is a Division 1 football player. He is classified as a fifth-year Senior on the football roster. He transferred to the institution two years ago and is majoring in Liberal Arts. He has a 3.0 GPA. Frodo’s career goal is to work in pharmaceutical sales.

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Appendix F

Themes and Categories with Quotes

Alternative Career Path Planning: “... if football didn't work, then I always had my

plan B” “[At] at the end of the day, we all know that athletes, the career span of an athlete, is not as long as most career paths are, in comparison to a doctor, a lawyer, anything outside of sports, really. So, I think for the most part, we all going in [to college football] knowing that at some point, we have to give it up [to pursue something else]. So, I think, you put your time, you've put as much effort as you can into making it happen. But at the same time, you're always developing that skillset that's going to help you [with another career path] when the game is done.” (Gimli). “When I came in [to college], I wanted to have, like my mom said, was the major in business management and having my own gym, workout place, gym spot. So that's why I majored in business management... Because my dad, he was a professional power lifter at one point. And then he's starting to get old, so he just stopped. Now he just still works out and me and him always used to work out. Working out and power lifting and running and all that is ingrained into our family and I feel like having my own gym would be the best move, the best thing to do.” (Aragorn) [Can you tell me about your career goals at the start of college?] “I knew I want to invest into real estate after. Basically, just buying apartments and renting them out, or duplexes.” (Sauron)

Competing Time Demands Hinder Career Preparation: “Football is making my academics a lot harder than it would be if I wasn't playing.”

“I don't think I've ever really reflected on [my future career path]. I never really took the time out to say, okay, how do I feel with this? If that makes sense. It's like instinct, I guess, in a lot of ways. And sadly, we don't really have much time to just say, okay, I'm going to take this amount of time or a week or a month to just really reflect. I've never done that, to be honest with you.” (Gimli) “Because of the rigors of the sport and because you're constantly on the go, you don't really have much time to say, "okay, I'm going to take a vacation. I'm going to pause everything; I'm going to take out a little journal and go to the beach for a couple of months and think about how I'm going to do this." For us, sadly, once you're done in December, you get maybe like you two weeks, if you're lucky. Usually, the better your team does, the less break time you have because once school starts, you're back to workouts. And sometimes even before school officially starts, you're already back, you're prepping, you're getting treatment. So, you don't really have those moments.” (Gimli)

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“I think it [having time to reflect] would be a time to silence and listen to my mind, my body and to God and be able to concentrate [on my career path] decision before God but I don't really have that time. So, I get the quick fix. I'm like, "Hey God, what do you think about this?" And go from there.” (Gimli) [When asked about challenges he faces in college related to his career path] “Just time management...that's the biggest challenge that I face every day. I mean, the time schedule for football is pretty demanding and that long days is year-round. [Balancing football and college commitments is] tough.” (Elrond)

Theme 3: Social Support Assists Career Path Navigation: “Not feeling like I'm on

my own making a decision, is something that's really helpful for me.” Subtheme 1: Informational Support [Support as I navigated my career path] “mostly came from my cousin. Yeah, I think I had a lot of support. Yeah, just telling me how the stuff is going to go. Basically, he was giving me guidelines, you got to have this, this and that done, you got to have US dot number set already. I got to get background checks on my drivers when I hire them, just little stuff like that, really...It's very important, because it saves me time doing research. Yeah, save me a lot of time...Yeah, it helps me a lot.” (Sauron) Subtheme 2: Emotional Support “For me, preparing for another career path, the thing that I did was I talked to mentors. I've always had mentors in my life. People that have been able to pour into me, especially when I'm at my weakest or low points, things like that. And I think it's just finding people, even if they're not mentors, but that you're comfortable enough to, and who know you well enough, to help you come up with a game plan and just evaluate things from a different perspective. One of my mentors, I met him in high school. He's a pretty successful businessmen in the local community, and he's always just been there to pour into me. And I think he saw traits of himself in me. And so, all throughout high school and all throughout college, I've been able to call and text him whenever I have those moments of inspiration, and also when the opposite, also when anxiety comes and things like that. I can just talk to him, talk through it. Another mentor is our team chaplain, [Pastor], the same thing. When I have those hints of inspiration and also when the anxiety comes, and just guys like that in my corner to talk to.” (Gimli)

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Appendix G

Meaning Units

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Example of Core Themes