Interscholastic Sports Participation and Academic Achievement: A New Statistical Approach to a Classic Question
Open Access
Author:
Zeiser, Kristina Lillian
Graduate Program:
Sociology
Degree:
Master of Arts
Document Type:
Master Thesis
Date of Defense:
April 01, 2008
Committee Members:
Emily Kate Greenman, Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor George Farkas, Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor
Keywords:
sports and race sports participation academic achievement
Abstract:
Research concerning the relationship between interscholastic sports participation and academic achievement has evolved over the past forty years. While early studies looked at cross-sectional data and community-based samples, more recent studies have used a longitudinal framework that controls for prior achievement. This study advances the field one step further by employing propensity score matching to find the effect of interscholastic and popular sports participation on student GPA in the twelfth grade. The findings of this study do not show evidence of the commonly-perceived positive impact that interscholastic sports have on educational outcomes. However, there is a positive effect on GPA for white (but not black) students who participate in popular sports (varsity basketball, football, baseball, and softball). Implications of the different operationalizations of sports participation and the different methods of analysis are discussed.
