Athletic Investment and Academic Resilience in a National Sample of African American Females and Males in the Middle Grades

Abstract

This research examines the impact of gender on the association between sport participation and students' educational opportunities and outcomes by comparing African American male and female eighth graders, including student background and school demographic and organization characteristics. Unlike previous studies it also investigates the link between interscholastic and intramural athletic participation and “academic resilience” for African American eight-grade females and males using educational plans, peer status, and academic investments as indicators of academic attachment. Data for these analyses are drawn from the base year of the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS, 99) conducted by the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics. These data offer evidence that athletic participation can and often does have a positive impact on student motivation and engagement, and that these positive benefits accrue to both male and female athletes.