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Walking away from the game: a phenomenological study on student-athletes career transition

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Walking away from the game: a phenomenological study on student-athletes career transition

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Content Running head: STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 1
WALKING AWAY FROM THE GAME: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY ON
STUDENT-ATHLETES CAREER TRANSITION

by

M. Divina Vidales

A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION

May 2017

Copyright 2017 M. Divina Vidales

STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 2
Dedication
To the games we lost that still made us champions.

STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 3
Acknowledgements
It takes a great team of people that help make an athlete succeed, and I would not be here
today without my team of support. First and foremost, I want to express my deepest gratitude to
my mom and dad for making me their happy thought so that I achieve my dreams. It is through
their strength, struggle, and dreams for my family that helped motivate me to keep pushing
forward. Secondly, I would like thank my brother and sisters who continue to amaze me with
their wit and athletic prowess, thank you for continuing to inspire me. I would like to thank my
loving husband, for being my number one fan, teammate, and foundation of support. To all my
friends, best friend, and people who helped feed me, push me, and provide unconditional love
throughout this process, thank you. For my Tuesday cohort for making the journey fun,
especially to my study group for making sure we all made it to the finish line; and to my
dissertation chairs for always pushing me to my limits. As I graduate this year, I want to thank
the generations that stood before me, stand with me, and that will come after me that help pave
the way for future generations to make their undying mark. I take you all across the stage with
me. Lastly, I would like to give thanks for the love of the game that keeps us all playing sports.

STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 4
Table of Contents
Dedication 2
Acknowledgements 3
Abstract 6
Chapter One: Overview of the Study 7
Background of the Problem 7
Statement of the Problem 9
Purpose of the Study 9
Research Questions 10
Significance of the Study 11
Limitations 12
Delimitations 12
Definition of Terms 13
Organization of the Study 14
Chapter Two: Literature Review 16
History of Intercollegiate Sports at Four-Year Institutions 17
Student-Athletes? 18
Student-Athlete Experiences 20
Socialization 21
Student-Athlete’s Challenges 23
Student-Athlete Identity 24
Student Versus Athletic Identity 25
Identity Development 28
Career Self-Efficacy 30
Emotional Intelligence 31
Transition Models for Student-Athletes 32
Career Identity Development 36
Critique 37
Implications 40
Chapter Three: Methodology 41
Purpose and Research Questions 41
Why Qualitative Methods 42
Research Design 43
Participants 43
Measurement Instrument 44
Data Collection 44
Analysis 45
Chapter Four: Results 47
Description of the Sample 47
Results for Research Question One 48
Organizational Influence 48
Results for Research Question Two 49
Transferable Skills 50
Results for Research Question Three 56
Limited Resources 57
STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 5
Environment 58
Chapter Summary 59
Conclusion 59
Chapter Five: Conclusion 61
Statement of the Problem 61
Purpose of the Study 62
Methodology 63
Limitations and Delimitations 63
Summary of Results 64
Implications for Practice 67
Recommendations for Practice 68
Recommendations for Future Research 68
Conclusion 70
References 71
Appendix: Interview Protocol 77

STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 6
Abstract
Student-athletes have been identified as a unique population within the student body that
has unique experiences and needs (Ferrante, & Pinkney, 1996). Research in higher education has
suggested that student-athletes must, for example, make decisions about a career, identify and
modify personal values, form effective interpersonal relationships, develop self-esteem and
integrity, and achieve interdependence and autonomy (Ferrante, Etzel, & Lantz, 1996). The
purpose of this research was to determine how, and to what extent, the experiences of a college
athlete contributes to their career transition. Since there was no existing framework for student-
athlete career transition, this study’s rationale was to add to existing literature, a new perspective
on student-athlete career transition that includes Schlossberg’s transition model as well as social
cognitive theory. The study will address the problem through constant comparative
qualitative research into the role of student- athlete identities play into career transitions.
Achieving the purpose of this study helps fill an empirical research gap by testing the
relationship between participation in athletics, student engagement, and their career transition.
The data collected in both phases (interviews and analysis) of the study will provide an inclusive
explanation of college athletes’ perception of identity as an influential factor to their approach
career transition. Overall, this study hopes to adjoin the literature pertaining to college athlete
engagement and career transition. The findings from this study could imply that with further
longitudinal studies with an intentionally targeted population, strong relation to engagement
could serve to predict a college athletes’ approach to their career transitions.

STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 7
CHAPTER ONE: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY
While the presence of intercollegiate athletics is both widespread and prominent, the dual
responsibilities that student-athletes face between sport participation, academics, and other
college experiences has raised questions about the quality of the experiences for student-athletes.
Student-athletes must, for example, make decisions about a career, identify and modify personal
values, form effective interpersonal relationships, develop self-esteem and integrity, and achieve
interdependence and autonomy (Ferrante et al., 1996). Research posits that the differences in
educational experiences between athletes and non-athletes, often favor athletes (Umbach et al.,
2006). Employing a measure of student engagement to examine the educational experience of
student-athletes provides information related to a variety of educationally sound practices
associated with both learning and personal development, and how those factors contribute to
student-athlete career transitions. However, since there are varying theories that affect student
development, it will be crucial to explore all the facets that contribute to the success of the
student-athlete in hopes to create a holistic approach that takes all institutional, sport, and
student-athlete perspectives to assist with student-athlete career transitions.
Background of the Problem
Transition for students throughout their educational career has been an anticipated event.
As student transition from one grade to the next, new chapters begin to unfold in their lives. For
student-athletes, transition can be examined from their early participation of sports in childhood,
through high school and potential intercollegiate athletic participation. As early as this process
may begin, athletes at all levels of sports, experience the physical activity, teamwork, and
competition that was crucial to the development of an athlete. These experiences have important
implications for social, physical, and personal development. Each sense of achievement has
STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 8
brought to athletes a sense of autonomy, achievement, and given athletes a strong initiative to
complete their studies and further their careers. Sport participation contributes to the
development of physical abilities that in turn, result in more effective peer and career
development. Moreover, leadership skills can be enhanced by sports participation because more
athletic children are more likely to be seen as leaders. Early participation may, therefore, lead to
accomplishing certain developmental tasks and, at the same time, to a heightened status or sense
of self, which can be demonstrated through the students that participate in athletics. Many
authors have written on the specific influences sports participation may have on the development
of the self-esteem or self-concept in players. They can therefore been viewed differently based
solely on their participation in sports. Several studies have been conducted within the
involvement of their participation in athletics. Studies have shown that there are time constraints
they experience in participation of intercollegiate sports inhibits them from being able to
assimilate into the traditional college experience (Huffmon & Doyle, 2008). Second, research
has noted connections between athletic participation and development of a high level of self-
esteem, leadership and teamwork skills, motivation, and discipline (Adler & Adler, 1991; Miller
& Kerr, 2002). Third, there are insufficient instruments to reliably measure career development,
career transition and preparation specific to student-athletes (Sanstedt, Cox, Martens, Ward,
Webber, & Ivey, 2004). In sum, student-athletes are viewed differently and may be treated
differently. Studies however have failed to create any linkage with post athletic transition with
their careers. Arguably, this gap of literature failed to provide a complete canon within the
literature of student-athletes development and engagement within the sport, and how athletic
participation provides additional value and enhancement to athlete career transitions.

STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 9
Statement of the Problem
Student-athlete career transitioning is the process by which they are psychologically and
vocationally prepared for the conclusion of sport eligibility and the commencement of a
traditional workplace position (Levy, 2005). In exploring the impact of student-athlete
experiences to their career transitions is an important component to understand in student
development. As a student and athlete at a four-year institution, players receive both positive and
negative reinforcement from their campus environment (Watt & Moore, 2001). In exploring the
socialization of student-athletes external factors such as environment and coach influences can
examine their aspirations and motivation in athletics. The academic engagement training that
students undertake through academic achievement plays a vital role in how students career
transition (Levy, 2005). Although the role of student engagement has been indirectly linked to
career transitioning through academic achievement, there has been little extant research that
directly investigated the role of student engagement in student-athlete career transitioning.
Therefore, the educational problem addressed in this paper are the athletic experiences of
student-athletes and how it prepared them for career transition. This is a problem because it is
important to understand the role of student-athletes’ experiences and how it drove their career
transitions. This problem is important to address because there is gap in the literature to connect
college and sport experiences with career transitions.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study was to review several components that contributed to the career
transition of student-athletes. First, a literature review was presented that described some of the
factors that influence student-athlete’s role and engagement at their respective universities.
Second, student-athlete experiences and their participation in athletics brought to the forefront of
STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 10
analysis to how it contributed to navigating college as a college athlete. Moreover, an
understanding of development from experiences with sports are highlighted as an essential role
in understanding their career transitions. Third, student development and career theories are
addressed with their application to the sports context, as well as how being a college athlete
helped facilitate with career transitions. These theories have had little application to career
transition of student-athletes specifically. Fourth, an analysis of the literature was provided
describing stakeholder’s role and additional factors that contributed to the career transition of
student-athletes. A final section on treatment implications was offered for the benefit of those
trying to fill the gap of literature addressing student-athlete’s participations in athletics positive
impact with their career transitions.
This qualitative study utilized Kaminsky and Behrend (2015) application of Lent and
Brown’s (1994, 2006) social cognitive career theory help establish an outline for the formation
and sequence of questions. The theory is mapped into four components of (1) how basic
academic and career interests develop, (2) how educational and career choices are made, (3) how
academic and career success is obtained and (4) the role of self-efficacy into those goals. In
addition to social cognitive career theory, Chickering and Schlossberg’s (1995) transition theory
will be utilized to help frame the category of questions. Chickering and Schlossberg’s (1995)
identified four major sets of factors that influence a person's ability to cope with a transition:
situation, self, support, and strategies, which are also known as the 4 S's. With both theories
contributing to the study, it helped provide a framework to why student-athletes experience
healthy career transitions.
Research Questions
1. How does participation in athletics contribute to navigating college as a college athlete?
STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 11
2. How does being a college athlete facilitate a healthy career transition?
3. What factors contribute to the identity development of student-athletes and their career
transitions?
Significance of the Study
The transition of athletes has been generally overlooked as an area of research.
Literature argued that in order for students to be successful, they should participate in is student
development and engagement. However, student-athletes cannot participate in traditional
engagement activities, and they are unable to do so because of their schedule. If we can get
student-athletes, to do more student engagement and development that non-student- athletes
encounter they will be more successful in career transition. Sanstedt et al. (2004) have suggested
that the lack of any suitable model describing athletic retirement has hampered research. This
research was noteworthy to attain because of the lifelong contribution toward career
development that can be determined by understanding the relationship between student
engagement and career transitioning. Currently, there are no studies that seek to identify the
impact of student engagement once student-athletes have departed their undergraduate programs
(Baillie & Danish, 1992; Fleming, 2011). This research can assist stakeholders in college
athletics, such as sport management scholars, college athletic administrators, college career
counselors, parents, as well as coaches and student-athletes, by uncovering the mix of factors
that contribute to their long-term occupational success or failure. The results of this analysis
provided current student-athletes with a holistic overview of how their student-athlete
experiences contribute to their career transition success.

STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 12
Limitations
This study was also bounded by a specific set of limitations. First, individual interviews
occurred after the former student-athletes’ intercollegiate athletics experiences. Therefore,
participants were required to reflect upon experiences throughout their higher education time as a
student-athlete. However, the data was self-reported and it may offer a perceptive that is bias and
not authentic. Interviews were utilized to explore the ways in which the relationships among
student-athletes' career transition, athletic identity, and student role identity contribute to student-
athlete’s career transition off their field of sport. Secondly, in order to yield the richest data a
longitudinal approach would have been ideal to cross compare the early perceptions of
graduating athletes and map their journey through their post-graduation years of their careers.
Moreover, due to the limitations of the scope and timeframe, it was not practical to conduct such
the study with such an approach. In this study former student-athletes from various institutions
who have transitioned into their careers will be interviewed. This will allow for a controlled
measure with the characteristics of the study participants. Finally, because the sample did not
come from every institution and represent every institutional type, the experiences reported
cannot be assumed to be representative of all National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)
Division programs.
Delimitations
This study was intentionally bounded or delimited to a specific population of former
student-athletes that graduated and participated in intercollegiate athletics from Division I-III
universities. The goal of this phenomenological approach was to understand the individual
experiences of student-athletes who successfully transition into their careers. Findings can be
seen as guiding themes to further explain a newer area of inquiry and the phenomenon of what
STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 13
life experiences influence them as they construct individual career paths. Moreover, this research
generated an in-depth account of which student-athlete experiences influence the career
construction process to inform theory and subsequently guide future program development in
higher education.
Definition of Terms
The following operational definitions were used in this study:
Career Construction: Savickas (2002) defines the term career construction as a dynamic
process, in which individuals construct their careers by using life themes and experiences to
guide choices. The theory of career construction presents a modern approach to Super’s (1957)
seminal theory of vocational development. This theory has developed in the 21st century to
describe the dynamic and evolutionary process of the construct of career development (Savickas,
2002, 2005). Within this study, career construction was contextualized as the individual process
of exploring career opportunities, making informed career decisions and designing potential
career trajectories based on life experiences.
Career Identity: The Theory of Career Construction suggests the processes of career
construction and identity development are intertwined (Savickas, 2002, 2005). Savickas (2002)
posits in the 21st century individuals continuously describe who they are in terms of their career.
In the context of this study career identity was defined as one’s chosen career path. Student-
Athlete Dual Identity: Brewer, Van Raalte, and Linder (1993) define this type of conflict as the
extent to which an individual identifies with athletic and academic roles. Adler and Adler (1987)
posit this term refers to how student-athletes identify with two conflicting roles of association
with athletic identity and academic identity. The degree to which one associates with a certain
roles can be represented by a place on a scale.
STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 14
Life After (Intercollegiate) Sport: This term was commonly referred to in literature which
focuses on the student-athlete experience. Harrison and Lawrence (2004) study demonstrate that
student-athletes that are career-minded will have a better chance to succeed in their transition and
future non-athletic careers. By implementing the Life After Sports Scale, the study was able to
determine that there was an urgency and necessity of developing career-minded focus athletes.
Career Identity Development: Stringer and Kerpelman (2010) examined the career identity
development among college students. In part of their research, they examined four factors that
contributed to the identity development of college students. These factors include career identity
evaluation and career decision self-efficacy, parental support for career, and previous work
experience.
Organization of the Study
This study was designed to research the factors that facilitate a healthy career transition
for student-athletes. Currently there is a gap of literature and theoretical model that connects the
experiences of their transition into a career that is not through professional sports. Chapter one of
this study presents an overview of the study and Lent and Brown’s (1994, 2006) social cognitive
career theory and Chickering and Schlossberg’s (1995) transition theory to help frame the
analysis of the study. Also included was the statement of the problem statement and the research
questions to be answered in this study. Chapter Two presents a review of literature and various
career development and student development theories and factors that impact a student’s career
transition. Literature concerning student-athlete identity, transition, and career self-efficacy was
reviewed. The methodology for conducting this research and data analysis methods will appear
in Chapter Three. Chapter Four contains an analysis of the data as well as the presentation of the
STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 15
results. Lastly, Chapter Five offered a summary and discussion of the researcher's findings,
implications for practice, and recommendations for future research.

STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 16
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
The role of intercollegiate athletics is weighted with expectation that it offers an
additional level of social and academic development. Studies argued that sports play a positive
role in areas of achievement off the field (Gayle & Hu, 2009). It has long been thought that the
many facets of playing sports, such as the rigor of training, learning teamwork, following the
leadership of coaches and captains, and understanding the components of competition provide
lifelong skills for athletes (Wolverton, 2008). There are additional positive effects of
participation which include learning goal-setting, time management, the development of a strong
sense of morality, and the development of an appreciation of diversity, which all cater to the
holistic development of an athlete (Gayle & Hu, 2009). Further, these components provide
participation in athletics a level of prestige and benefit of teamwork, leadership, determination,
and lifelong skills that enable success both on and off the field for athletes (Miller & Kerr, 2002;
Wolverton, 2008). Through participation in childhood athletics, high school and subsequent
college athletics, students can attain transferable skills that resonate in their college experiences
and career transitions. The transitional phrases of each stage development from childhood sports,
high school, and college athletics contribute to the post collegiate competition development that
is the focus of this study. In such a socio-cultural context, the athletes’ transitions within the
athletic career have been seen as an important topic in athletic career transitions. The purpose of
the literature review was to provide a detailed analysis of relevant history of intercollegiate
sports, examine the dual student and athlete identities experience, and address student-athlete
engagement while highlighting how their experiences make them successful in their career
transitions.

STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 17
History of Intercollegiate Sports at Four-Year Institutions
Since the 1930’s, intercollegiate sports have been popular. As sports were introduced into
post-secondary education, demands for new reform were urged to help protect the students and
the university. From these requests, the NCAA was established due to President Roosevelt’s
demand to reform college football’s physicality to offer more structure. At the heart of the
reform, the NCAA sought out to safeguard the student-athlete population. NCAA propositions
such as 48, 42, and 16 offered an academic safeguard for performance at institutions (Watt &
Moore, 2001). These propositions specify eligibility to participate in sports and receive financial
aid (Watt & Moore, 2001). The transformation of college athletics over the past 30 years into a
multi-billion dollar, internationally recognized business changed the focus of intercollegiate
athletic departments (Letawsky et al., 2003).
During these reforms, the heart of institutional discussions was identifying what it meant
to be a student-athlete and how to ensure its success. With the new boom of intercollegiate sport
interest, media outlets have begun to capitalize on university athletic programs (Watt & Moore,
2001; Wolverton, 2008). Student-athletes’ experiences can differ based on NCAA Division
level. The main difference between division levels is the amount of sports the institution has to
sponsor for both men and women as well as how they teams are financed. For example, Division
I has to sponsor “seven sports for men and seven for women (or six for men and eight for
women) with two team sports for each gender…as well as meet minimum financial aid awards
for their athletics program, and there are maximum financial aid awards for each sport that a
Division I school cannot exceed” (NCAA, 2016). The literature examining student-athletes'
engagement was sparse in educationally purposeful activities. As sports programs continued to
grow throughout the decades, athletes began to see a shift between the demands of academics
STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 18
and those of competitive sport life. Additionally, differences in experiences began to shape the
development of programs and how administrators and institutions managed the care of their
student- athlete populations (Watt et al., 2001). For example, Division I might have fewer
opportunities to be a part of the traditional college experience because of the demands of athletic
participation versus those of Divisions II or III athletes (Watt et al., 2001). Gayles and Hu
(2009), the authors examined the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) and how
student engagement was brought to the forefront of higher education reform. Specifically, Gayles
and Hu examined what contributes to the their experiences, such as student-faculty interaction,
peer interaction, participation in academic related activities, the impact of such experiences on a
set of college outcomes, and later fulfillment such as their career transitions. In the athletic
domain, the importance of transitional experiences from childhood, high school, and
intercollegiate athletics can relate to the development of career transitions and identity that
student-athletes experience.
Student-Athletes?
The term “student-athletes” implies that all enrolled students who play college sports are
engaged in secondary extra-curricular activities that enhance their education (Miller & Kerr,
2002; Wolverton, 2008). In essence, the term “student-athlete” is not limited to a focus on sports
alone. The NCAA states, “Student-athletes must, therefore, be students first” (Watt & Moore,
2001; Wolverton, 2008). It is difficult to state that the NCAA’s statement was true, knowing that
the rigor of athletics within higher education and academics come with a strict time constraint
(Watt & Moore, 2001). In fact, it could be argued the latter. More importantly, though, are the
individuals who handle the rigor of both sport and academics, and how it defines what it is to be
a student-athlete.
STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 19
The student-athlete population is an exclusive entity within the realm of higher education.
The existing literature provided information about their experiences of college and university in
the U.S. (Miller & Kerr, 2002). Traditionally, they are defined as any student who participates in
extra-curricular activities. However, for the main purpose of investigating the student-athlete
population, participation of revenue driven sports such as football, basketball, soccer, baseball
and volleyball will be utilized in defining a student-athlete. Further, there are additional factors
that distinguish athletes from each other, such division classification, sex, race, ability, and sport
(Street, 1999). Additionally, each factor of identification offers a unique element that is exclusive
to the student-athlete. For example, studies have increasingly posited that first-year student-
athletes share many of the same challenges commonly experienced by first-year students as they
transition to college (Broughton & Neyer, 2001). At the same time, they must also overcome
additional, unique obstacles—specifically related to their participation in sport (Broughton &
Neyer, 2001). Each of these differences may mean alternative ways of defining and experiencing
life as a student- athlete which makes the proponents to analyze the structural characteristics of
them difficult (Street, 1999; Stoll, 2012). However, despite those differences they develop a
unique set of life and interpersonal skills that allow them to successfully transition in their career
post-sport through their athletic engagement on campus. Although being a student-athlete is
regarded as a risk factor, very little research exist on the benefits of being a student-athlete
towards transition into career beyond college and athletic competition. Further, even less
research contributes to the total developmental trajectory of student-athletes from childhood
sports through their later career transitions.

STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 20
Student-Athlete Experiences
From the perspective of a student-athlete, it is understood that approximately less than
one percent of all NCAA will play at a professional level end up going pro in their respective
sport (NCAA, 2016). This statistic serves as an implication to show that the value of the degree
and the experience as a student-athlete will far outweigh what is accomplished on the field or on
the court. Moreover, the economics of intercollegiate athletics tend distract the on-campus
experiences of student-athletes and place their needs second (Gayles & Hu, 2009). Athletic
departments have been focused on innovative ways to assist their student-athletes as they
perform in the classroom as well as prepare for their career transition.
Adler and Adler (1991) studied the academic and athletic engagement of student-athletes
at Division I institutions and found that factors such as fatigue from training and competition,
insufficient time to study, poor studying environments, isolation from the general student body,
and pressures to succeed created a culture that focused their attention on their athletic successes
and not their academic endeavors. Research has also noted connections between athletic
participation and development of a high level of self-esteem, leadership and teamwork skills,
motivation, and discipline (Adler & Adler, 1991; Miller & Kerr, 2002). In addition to social
issues, studies have shown that student-athletes often begin their college career with vague or
nonexistent career objectives and invest heavily in their athletic roles (Miller & Kerr, 2002). This
would suggest that their athletic roles may be driving their level of engagement than their role
and experiences as students. Moreover, the developed athletic identities that form upon the
inception of sports participation through their intercollegiate years can contribute to the salient
career identity that student-athletes experience in their post-sport career transitions.

STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 21
Student-Athlete Engagement
The examining literature on student-athletes' engagement is limited, however its
influence on cognitive and affective outcomes is steadily growing. According to Gayles and Hu
(2009), the authors examine the NSSE and how student engagement is brought to the forefront of
higher education reform. More specifically, Gayles and Hu’s (2009) study examines what
contributes to the student-athletes' experiences, such as student-faculty interaction, peer
interaction, participation in academic related activities, and the impact of such experiences on a
set of college outcomes. Researchers became increasingly curious not only about GPAs and
graduation rates, but about how participation in college and university athletics effected student-
athletes' educational aspirations, later fulfillment, as well as how it impacted their engagement on
campus. According to Gayles and Hu (2009) it is their experience from that drives a successful
career transition for them. Moreover, it would be important to gauge pre-college characteristics,
such as transitional development between core years of athletics’ contribution to career identity
and transition, as well as satisfaction with the college experience.
Socialization
Multiple agents play a role in socializing students to the athletic identity, including staff
in athletic departments. In exploring the socialization of student-athletes there are a few
components that should be addressed. First, the emphasis that is places on athletic in comparison
to academics. By doing so external factors such as parental and coach influences can examine a
student-athletes aspirations and motivation in athletics. This will help measure the extent to
which education was emphasized between parents and their coaches, to determine how student
academic performances and social and behavioral adaptations to college life. Secondly, other
factors of socialization that should be considered is the distance that is placed between student-
STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 22
athletes and the general student body. Creating a sense of self-worth with access to resources for
them and their identity development has been shown to influence their socialization and
subculture onto campus, which can create a higher self-efficacy for them and their identity
development (Pascarella & Terenzini, 1998). According to Huffmon and Doyle (2008) this social
distance is a product of the extensive travel, practice time, and family-like orientation that exists
within the athletic culture. These factors create an environment where they socialize are limited
with their interactions with non-student-athletes due to their schedules. Additionally, this gap of
interactions creates conflicting messages and unrealistic expectations from parents, coaches, and
non-teammates (Huffmon & Doyle; 2008). By doing so, the unrealistic expectations create a
subculture for them that focuses on the environment of their athletic team, goals, and
collaboration. Moreover, in examining the external socialization influences of student-athletes
research shows that it may begin as early as the recruitment process (Huffmon & Doyle;2008).
Huffmon and Doyle (2008) describe student-athletes undergoing anticipatory socialization
during the recruitment process through their first-year of college while balancing the demands of
their student and athlete roles. University administrators may encourage them to assimilate
themselves to the general student body and engage in “traditional” college activities, such as
cultural and residential programming, sorority and fraternity life, and academic organizations.
However, the time constraints they experience in participation of intercollegiate sports inhibits
them from being able to assimilate into the traditional college experience (Huffmon & Doyle;
2008). Further, research suggests that despite the time constraints to experience a traditional
college experience, student-athletes develop transitional traits that allow for a quicker
development of their career identities and transitions.

STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 23
Student-Athlete’s Challenges
Research has noted connections between athletic participation and development of a high
level of self-esteem, leadership and teamwork skills, motivation, and discipline (Adler & Adler,
1991; Miller & Kerr, 2002). These elements can build the self-efficacy of the student-athlete
which can cause many to focus on one identity rather than both. In a NCAA survey of 21,000
players participating in intercollegiate sports expressed that they viewed themselves more as
athletes rather than students first (Wolverton, 2008). This view is supported by their class
schedule versus their average of 44.8 hour a week schedule for practices (Wolverton, 2008).
Though historically, the NCAA was formed to protect the student-athlete’s education and
interest in their development, their practice schedules outweigh their class time which would
illustrate the conflicting perspectives of the NCAA and student-athlete’s primary roles on
campus. In addition to academics and social issues, studies have shown that they often begin
their college career with vague or nonexistent career objectives and invest heavily in their
athletic roles (Miller & Kerr, 2002). Research shows that student-athletes’ engagement in
educationally purposeful activities impacts their experiences on cognitive and affective outcomes
(Ferris, Finster, & McDonald, 2004; Ferrante & Pinkney, 1996). Adler and Adler (1991) studied
the academic engagement at Division I institutions and found that factors such as fatigue from
training and competition, insufficient time to study, poor studying environments, isolation from
the general student body, and pressures to succeed created a culture that focused student-athletes’
attention on their athletic successes and not their academic endeavors.
Student-athletes constantly balance with duel-role identities, full-time athlete and full-
time student (Miller & Kerr, 2002). Further, the dual complex roles that this student population
experience has been reflected through the GPAs and their graduation rates, which suggest their
STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 24
academic and athletic lives, are intricately interwoven (Miller & Kerr, 2002). In addition to
social issues, studies have shown that student-athletes often begin their college career with vague
or nonexistent career objectives and invest heavily in their athletic roles (Miller & Kerr, 2002).
Student-athletes constantly balance with dual-role identities, full-time athlete and full-time
student (Miller & Kerr, 2002). This would then suggest that their dual identities that are
developed from childhood through intercollegiate sports are a driving force for career transitions
and long-term goals post-sport.
Student-Athlete Identity
As a student and athlete at a four-year institution, players receive both positive and
negative reinforcement from their campus environment (Watt & Moore, 2001). Typically, since
their sport dominates their day-to-day life, the student takes submissive role to that of their
athletic role (Watt & Moore, 2001). The divide between both identities is representative of the
struggle that the institution has with offering them a legitimate college experience (Comeaux,
2007). This divide has created a gap between their athlete and student identities which causes a
conflict with their multiple identities. Research shows that a student-athlete’s identity is often
associated with a negative academic stereotype and their student identity is often associated with
a positive academic stereotype (Feltz, Schneider, Hwang, & Skogsberg, 2013). These multiple
identities categorize them with both positive and negative stereotypes. With multiple identities
contributing to the development of the student-athlete on and off the field, administrators, such
as academic advisors and professors, contribute to their identity formation by emphasizing the
athlete's academic role and development off the field to ensure the balance of internal and
external pressures of being a student and an athlete (Watt et al., 2001). Despite both identities, a
strong athletic identity may make a negative academic stereotype more salient than one's student
STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 25
identity (Feltz et al., 2013). However, despite the conflict of both identities, both identities drive
their career choices post-sport and allow them to successfully transition into their careers by
utilizing their experiences (childhood through college) to drive their decisions.
Student Versus Athletic Identity
As a student-athlete embarks on their educational and athletic journey at their university,
they are faced with multiple support services that cater to their athletic ability on their field of
sport. With an abundance of sport related activities, the commitment requirements for athletes
restrict how much time they have to devote to their academics. This may pose a problem if
athletes are unable to visit their professors during office hours. If professors have little contact
with their student-athletes in their class, then they may be more prone to relying on stereotypes
rather than accurate perceptions of their academic capabilities (Feltz et al., 2013). Faculty
stereotypes can significantly affect academic outcomes and create a stigma towards student-
athlete’s educational journey (Feltz et al., 2013). The false sense of student-athlete privilege that
faculty may perceive, only adds to the marginalization that student-athletes of color may be
experiencing. Further, with a history of segregation, student-athletes become entangled in an
institutional system that is hindering them (Comeaux, 2007). Therefore, the conflict between the
historical roots of higher education and athletics has created an additional obstacle for them to
overcome.
In a study conducted by Simmons’ et al. (2007), 538 student-athletes in higher education
reported that 33% stated they were perceived and treated negatively by professors. These
negative perceptions were based on denied request for accommodations for athletic events, lower
grades than the student-athletes felt they deserved, as well as negative comments made by
faculty (Simmons et al., 2007). The resulting prejudice, segregation and discrimination through
STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 26
hegemonic powers against those who deviate from social scripts have created negative outcomes
for marginalized students and their academic achievement (Simmons et al., 2007). Iverson’s
(2007) research suggests socially invented scripts should be dismantled in order to create
educational spaces that liberate and create opportunities as opposed to reinforcing limitations. By
doing so, this would then suggest that the institution should value the student-athlete experience
and not view them as revenue. Further, Comeaux (2007) analyzed racial differences in student-
athlete populations; specifically focused on academic achievement among Black and White
revenue generating athletes and found that Black and White male student-athletes did not benefit
equally from their interactions with faculty. Evidence suggests that they believe faculty hold
discriminatory feelings toward them, and these negative perceptions may be hindering student-
athletes from being able to fully engage in their classroom experiences (Comeaux, 2007; Feltz et
al., 2013; Simmons et al., 2007). By highlighting structural discrimination as an influential factor
of student-athlete identity development, it provides a perspective of external factors that
contribute to a student-athlete’s development and how it effects their career transition.
Faculty and student affairs administrators play a significant role in conditioning student-
athletes to accept a foreclosed athletic identity through the continuation of the student-athlete
stereotype. The institution’s failure to assist them has a negative impact on their identity
development (Comeaux, 2007 & Feltz et al., 2013). There is still an ongoing perception that the
student-athlete population is academically inferior. In a study, one third of student-athletes
reported that they were perceived negatively by their professors (Simons et al., 2007) as well as
found that over 60% of them reported that an instructor made a negative remark in class about
them. Moreover, research argues that environmental factors contribute to the development of
STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 27
student-athletes that negatively affect their undergraduate success (Comeaux, 2007 & Ferris et
al., 2004).
Accountability measures, such as the Academic Progress Rate, have been ineffectively
adopted to help administrators, such as professors and advisors, improve the educational
experiences of student-athletes (Ferris et al., 2004). The lack of accountability has led to
institutional failures at providing them with a holistic set of resources (Ferris et al., 2004). As the
gap widens during their collegiate experience, it negatively impacts the athlete and their ability
to be successful off the field (Comeaux, 2007). Further, through the lack of access to resources
the student-athlete population is given a deeper lens of issues with their identity development
when race and gender are taken into consideration. Student-athletes are subjected to a hegemonic
system that is in place at educational institutions suited to their academic preparation and are
provided with the tools to play the most important game of their college careers post-sport
(Ferris et al., 2004).
Developing student-athletic identities are at the mercy of an institution’s available
resources. An institution’s limited access to resources become dimensions of social identity as
members of marginalized groups are treated without equity on the basis of their ethnic or cultural
differences from the dominant group (Iverson, 2007). Therefore, a strong student-athlete identity
may create negative academic stereotypes more salient due to the lack of enough resources that
prepare them for success (Feltz et al., 2013). They need access to resources that faculty and
student affairs can provide that may assist in balancing the internal and external pressures of
being a student and an athlete (Watt et al., 2001).

STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 28
Career Transition
A university campus is a pre-career setting that offers experiences where undergraduate
college students get to apply their learning. The experienced gained from their undergraduate
experience offer a set of resources that prepare or offer coping skills to transition into their
career. As they transition, ideally students have identified personal, professional, and educational
goals as they embark on their new journeys post-graduation. Adjusting to a new job is only part
of the transition college students will make when they graduate. There are various factors such as
the economy, a competitive job market, or the rigors of graduate and/or professional school that
effect how a student transitions into the workplace (Kaminsky & Behrend 2015). There are five
career development theories that focus on the advisement and development of employment
(Leung, 2008; Niles, 2005). They are Theory of Work-Adjustment, Holland’s Theory of
Vocational Personalities in Work Environment, the Self-concept Theory of Career Development
formulated by Super as well as more recently by Savickas Gottfredson’s Theory of
Circumscription and Compromise, and social cognitive career theory (Leung, 2008). Each of
these theories provides an analysis of abilities (skills, knowledge, experience, attitude, behaviors)
that correspond with the requirements of their new role in their career, and the likelihood they
will perform and be perceived as satisfactory. Through these theories, various factors such as
their abilities and values are highlighted to demonstrate a student’s successful transition from
various age groups into their post-sport career transitions.
Identity Development
Adopted from Bandura’s (1986) general social cognitive theory, Lent and Brown (1994,
2006) introduced social cognitive career theory (SCCT). This framework focuses on Bandura’s
(1986) reliance on both person and contextual variables and the premise that a person and their
STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 29
environment are constantly in flux. SCCT explores how career and academic interests mature,
how career choices are developed, and how these choices are turned into action. Developed by
Lent et al. (1994), SCCT is a theoretical framework that seeks to understand the how career
interests are formed, academic and career choices are selected, as well as occupational
persistence and performance. Lent et al. (1994, 2006) produced theoretical models that link self-
efficacy, outcome expectations, and goal-setting, all of which are assumed to be influenced by a
person and their contextual factors. This is important to note, because as we consider the
transition of undergraduate students into the workplace, there are variables that are constantly
changing that effect how a student responds to their new environment. Such variables include
financial stability, time management; focus on career longevity, softer and interpersonal skills, as
well as overall well-being (Kaminsky & Behrend, 2015; Lent et al., 1994, 2006; Robinson,
Garton & Vaugh, 2007). It is important to note how the analysis of contextual factors of a
student transitioning into the workplace may be achieved through the focus of three primary
tenants of self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and goals (Lent et al., 1994). This would help to
identify general gaps of undergraduate life experiences and its application to the workplace.
SCCT design is specifically applicable to students transitioning into the workplace, because it
explains the processes on how people develop academic and career-related interests, make and
revise education and occupational choices, and achieve different levels of success with
academics and work (Lent et al., 1994, 2006; Leung, 2008). As undergraduate life experiences
will contest that the college experiences are in a constant state of change due to everyday life
demands that this framework would help identify the reasoning to different changes in their early
careers. Moreover, within the SCCT model, career development is viewed as an inclusive and
dynamic process that incorporates personal attributes that could also play a role in their transition
STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 30
(Kaminsky & Behrend, 2015). Such attributes include, race, gender, social class, and age. It is
important to note that as undergraduate’s transition from college life, this model would
emphasize that their undergraduate experiences impact how and why students transition into the
workplace. Through the use of SCCT interrelation of the three processes of career-related
interest, occupational/career choice, and career-related performance it can present potential gaps
with the transition of undergraduates into the workplace (Lent & Brown, 1996; Lent, Brown, &
Hackett, 1994, 2002). Furthermore, SCCT suggests that as undergraduate’s transition into the
workplace, their level of self-efficacy can moderate any perceptions of career barriers between
their occupational choices. This would mean that as new interests develop into goals and choices
it can contribute to their overall learning experiences and positive career choices (Robinson,
Garton & Vaugh, 2007).
Career Self-Efficacy
Lent et al. (1994) theorized that self-efficacy and outcome expectations lead to the
development of vocational interests, which lead to the involvement of other activities that are
consistent with those vocational interests. Interacting with vocational interests can lead to
performance outcomes that help build self-efficacy in a student’s choice of career (Betz &
Hackett, 2006). It is important to note that when interfacing with self-efficacy and career
interests that unless the student’s sphere of behavior and interest is carefully defined and
delineated, their assessment of self-efficacy cannot proceed (Betz & Hackett, 2006). This means
that assessment of undergraduate students into the workplace cannot be defined by personal traits
but rather with their behavior of choices from their experiences. For example, perceived barriers
such as those related to gender, ethnicity, age, socioeconomic status, or family constraints may
create negative outcome expectations, even when people have had previous success in the given
STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 31
area (Kaminsky & Behrend, 2015). Additionally, Lent et al., (1994, 2006) posited that self-
efficacy and outcome expectations could lead directly to vocational satisfaction. In SCCT, career
interests are regulated by self-efficacy and an outcome expectation. This means that as students
transition into the workplace, they will form a solid foundation of interest with their activities
when they experience personal high competency and positive outcomes (Betz & Hackett, 2006;
Kaminsky & Behrend, 2015). This is equally the same if they experience low personal
competency which will lead students to avoid activities. Moreover, the model of career choice
efficacy specifies learning experiences as the source of self-efficacy and outcome expectations.
Gaps in the literature note that personal indicators such as gender, race and ethnicity and other
background factors affect the types of learning experiences that individuals experience. This is
important to consider that as undergraduates graduate and transition into the workplace, their
level of self-efficacy as well as their personal identifiers shape where they are placed within the
job market.
Emotional Intelligence
In addition to SCCT, Liptak (2005) discusses emotional intelligence and its impact on a
person's career. Emotional intelligence explores the increasing need to successfully integrating
personal and career counseling by focusing on both career management skills and emotional
intelligence skills. Links between emotional intelligence and resilience require further
investigation to establish whether management of emotions is an important parallel to career
management (Liptak, 2005). In order for graduating student to be a successful employee, the
college student of today will need to do more than meet the requirements of a job (Robinson et
al., 2007). Liptak (2005) postulates that if an individual is successful at a given task, it will affect
their self-efficacy; which will enhance students transition into the workplace. Further it is
STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 32
important to consider that, as students transition into the workplace, there additional components
of SCCT and emotional intelligence that are evaluated with a student’s self-efficacy to
understand career-related attitudes and behaviors. However, gaps in the literature for SCCT point
to objective factors that might limit the use of SCCT such as the quality of the educational
experiences that students have been exposed to from childhood through intercollegiate sports, the
financial support available to a student’s educational journey, and engagement and leadership
opportunities can affect their career development.
Transition Models for Student-Athletes
Existing literature focused on collegiate student-athletes’ failure to connect college and
sport experiences with sport retirement and career transitions. The body of work dealing with
these issues covers academic success of student-athletes and their difficulties with retirement or
transition from sports participation. Past research on them has failed to make any linkages
between these areas or to understand how development during collegiate years impacts later life
outcomes or success. In addition, very little research accounts for the new demands and the
difficulties of sports retirement or student-athlete career transition. According to Sanstedt et al.
(2004), part of the reason for such a deficiency is due to the non-existence of a sufficient
instrument to reliably measure career development, career transition and preparation specific to
student-athletes. In order to provide a holistic analysis of career transition for them, it is also
important to note that an evaluation of student engagement, educational experiences, and
motivation for their sport play an important role.
Student-athlete career transitioning is the process by which they are psychologically and
vocationally prepared for the conclusion of sport eligibility and the commencement of a
traditional workplace position (Baillie & Danish, 1992; Fleming, 2011).They experience a
STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 33
portion of their vocational training during their academic achievement as undergraduate students
(Baillie & Danish, 1992; Fleming, 2011). According to Baillie and Danish (1992) and Fleming
(2011), academic achievement as well as their student-athlete engagement on campus, plays a
vital role with how they transition into a career post-sport. Although the role of non-athlete
student engagement has been indirectly linked to career transitioning through academic
achievement, there has been little extant research that directly investigates the role of student
engagement in student-athlete career transitioning (Park, Tod & Lavallee, 2012). Moreover, the
student’s athletic versus their non-competitive counterparts may be relevant to understanding
their career decision-making process.
As student-athletes transition into their post-sport career, elements of self-efficacy and
locus of control influence college students’ career attitudes and behaviors (Brown, Glastetter-
Fender & Shelton, 2002). Those that stagger behind their non-athletic peers in vocational
planning may benefit with a stronger perception of self-efficacy which can in turn influence their
career transition (Brown, Glastetter-Fender & Shelton, 2002). However according to Brown,
Glastetter-Fender & Shelton (2002) study of 189 collegiate student-athletes, it failed to address
the quality of the educational experiences that students have been exposed to, the financial
support available to a student’s educational journey, and engagement and leadership
opportunities can affects their career development. This type of analysis will limit the holistic
review of their career transitions, as its focus will be limited to identity development versus
environmental indicators that shape the student-athlete. This is especially important when
comparing career development post-graduation with the two major student populations of non-
student-athletes and student-athletes.
STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 34
Early studies show Taylor and Ogilvie’s (1994) a developed conceptual model of
adaptation for retirement from sports among athletes. This conceptual model was an early
attempt to frame an entire retirement process from sports in college. Within this model, there are
various causes listed that lead to athletic retirement. Some of the causes include age, injury, de-
selection or free choice. According to Taylor and Ogilvie’s (1994) these causes lead to factors
related to adaptation, retirement, and changes within self-identity. In addition, the causes of
retirement also lead one to consider available resources such as coping skills and social support.
More recent research highlights Wylleman, Alfermann, and Lavallee’s (2004), attempt to explain
sport retirement from a life span perspective. In their model, there are four levels which occur
from the ages of 10 – 35. Through each of the levels, the majority of the academic and athletic
development occurs between ages 18-38. However, the conceptual model fails to list specific
indicators that would ensure the successful transition of a student-athlete into their career.
Additionally, the model unclearly suggests that there additional transitions occurring at the same
time that affects the identity of a transitioning student-athlete. From this it can be inferred that
the adulthood stages of development are a particularly important time in the lives of student-
athletes.
Contemporary research of Park, Tod, and Lavallee (2012) introduce a trans-theoretical
conceptual model and its application to sports retirement. Rooted in health psychology Park et
al., (2012) use of the trans-theoretical is to explain retirement from sport and the decision-
making process. According to this model, there are an ordered set of five stages of change
everyone must go through. The model includes (1) pre-contemplation, (2) contemplation, (3)
preparation, (4) action, and (5) maintenance (Park’s et al., 2012). Though typically applied to
behavioral changes in various fields, the authors suggest that this trans-theoretical model can
STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 35
help to explain retirement decisions related to student-athletes from their sport. Unfortunately,
Park’s et al. (2012) examination on the trans-theoretical model show there are no real estimates
of the strength of the relationships between the variables of sports retirement or career transition
for them, nor does it consider the unique strengths they bring to the process.
While the three models of Park’s et al. (2012), Wylleman, Alfermann, and Lavallee’s
(2004), and Taylor and Ogilvie’s (1994) presented take different approaches to the
understanding how athletes retire from their sports, they all have strong common themes which
relate to the specific case of sport retirement and career transition. The first common theme is
sport retirement is seen as a process where several variables impact the retirement transition.
Secondly, each model alludes to a developmental component of life that leads to sport retirement
outcomes. This means that aside from individual experiences there are gaps in the literature that
point to additional external factors that may contribute to their career transition. Unfortunately,
empirical evidence is lacking for the three models presented. The studies focused on important
factors of the transition process but did not have information related to the how each factor
influenced the transition. Despite, the lack of empirical evidence in the three models presented, it
shows that a synthesis of many models may be doing a disservice to the analysis of career
transition of student-athletes because it fails to identify the root of influence. In order to
understand their behaviors of career transition, it is important to address the amount of time they
engage in their competitive sport (Brown, Glastetter-Fender & Shelton, 2000). This means that at
the root of understanding career transition for student-athletes it would be fundamental to
understand the relation between athletic and student identity as well as the career behaviors of
these students. While the existing literature discusses how multiple transitions throughout a
student-athlete’s life (adolescence, education, athletic career) can create difficult life situations
STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 36
for athletes, examination of existing literature indicates that role-strain is not yet widely
understood.
According to Harrison and Lawrence (2004) study The Life After Sports Scale (The
LASS) was implemented to demonstrate that student-athletes that are career-minded will have a
better chance to succeed in their transition and future non-athletic careers. By implementing the
Life After Sports Scale, the study determined that there is an urgency and necessity of
developing career-minded focus athletes. The Life After Sports Scale model is a mixed method
58-item inventory that is utilized to examine the perceptions of student-athletes career transition
process (Harrison & Lawrence, 2004). The scale consists of both a qualitative and quantitative
sections. The qualitative section consists of a visual student-athlete profile, and the quantitative
section consists of four domains: career transition, athletics, academics, and social (Harrison &
Lawrence, 2004). The use of this implementation may assist filling in the gaps that the previous
models of Park’s et al. (2012), Wylleman, Alfermann, and Lavallee’s (2004), and Taylor and
Ogilvie’s (1994). Utilizing the Life After Sports Scale may provide an informative grid that will
allow the gaps of student-athlete career transition to shrink, as well as identify a starting point of
the career transition process and the stakeholders involved in contributing to existing gaps.
Career Identity Development
Stringer and Kerpelman (2010) examined the career identity development among college
students. In part of their research, they examined four factors that contributed to the identity
development of college students. These factors include career identity evaluation and career
decision self-efficacy, parental support for career, and previous work experience. The authors
suggested that parental support of a student’s career, as well as the number of jobs held
predicated a career identity and career decision self-efficacy. Previous research has shown that
STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 37
career decision self-efficacy as a contributing element of career identity exploration and
commitment (Chung, 2002). This would suggest that surrounding agents beyond that of their
parents, such as college coaches, present additional access as student-athletes’ role models
(Stringer & Kerpelman, 2010). Additionally, previous research has shown career decision self-
efficacy to be a strong predictor of in-depth career identity exploration and commitment as well
as an important predictor of in-depth career identity exploration and internalizing of identity
commitments (Chung, 2002; Stringer & Kerpelman, 2010). Further, research has shown that
identity commitments are important to individuals' well-being, adjustment, and satisfaction. This
would suggest that for college students, specifically student-athletes, their career identity
development is dependent upon both coach and parental support through their development and
transitional years as a student, athlete and later their career identity.
Critique
As a whole, student-athletes face challenges such as rigorous training schedules,
academic pressures, and socialization demands that are unique to this student group within
higher education (Hollis, 2002). As a student-athlete, their time is strained between class, sport
and any additional personal responsibilities. They have obligations to the coach, the
team, and the rules and regulations of the NCAA that are beyond the normal demands of student
life of academics, work schedules and their socialization to campus (Watt et al., 2001; Hollis
2002; Letawsky, Schneider, Pedersen, & Palmer, 2003). In the review of literature, there are
some of the initial challenges that they encounter. First, student-athletes experience the dual
expectations of both the field and classroom. This causes a layer of complexity that make
meeting the expectations of coaches and professor difficult (Broughton & Neyer, 2001; Grant &
Darley, 1993). This research suggests that they often identify more with athletic rather than
STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 38
academic roles, which negatively influences their campus socialization and engagement (Hood
et.al, 1993). Secondly, student-athletes who primarily focus on their athletic role may struggle to
engage in degree exploration processes. This posits that these students may not consider their
long-range career plans and may commit to a degree path without adequate exploration of the
available opportunities (Hollis, 2002; Letawsky et al, 2003). Further, literature suggests that
they face additional challenges such as their roles as a student and an athlete which causes
conflict. Student-athletes face conflict with developing a sense of career direction as well as their
academic tracks (Watt & Moore, 2001).
According to Broughton and Neyer (2001) and Parham (1993) they face additional
challenges that affect how they function in their day-to-day lives with their dual roles. Such
challenges include “learning to balance academic and athletic pursuits, satisfying multiple
relationships, including those having to do with coaches, parents, friends, and community;
and terminating an athletic career and finding other activities in which participation will bring
about a very similar, if not a more heightened level of satisfaction” (Broughton & Neyer 2001).
These issues further intensify the debate as to whether college athletes benefit from or are
hindered by their involvement in intercollegiate sports (Stoll, 2012), as well as leave a lack of
empirical data that suggests they are successful in their career transitions.
Research has also noted connections between athletic participation and development of a
high level of self-esteem, leadership and teamwork skills, motivation, and discipline (Adler &
Adler, 1991; Miller & Kerr, 2002). Though the literature examining student-athletes' engagement
with educationally purposeful activities is sparse, it is steadily growing. Studies show that
student-athletes’ engagement in educationally purposeful activities impacts their experiences on
cognitive and affective outcomes (Ferris et al., 2004; Ferrante & Pinkney, 1996). Research
STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 39
shows that student-athlete concerns and issues have been buried in studies of traditional student
attrition because no conceptual framework has been available to guide on the college student-
athlete experience (Ferris et al., 2004 & Stoll, 2012). Both qualitative and quantitative measures
have been utilized to measure their overall engagement and experiences. However, qualitative
measures have been the preferred method to which would allow us to examine student-athletes
(Lally & Kerr, 2005). According to Brown, Glastetter-Fender, and Shelton, M. (2000), the use of
quantitative methods may not allot a comprehensive evaluation of student-athletes because it
fails to comprehensive understanding of the multidimensional and complex aspects of career and
identity development processes.
In the absence of a true conceptual framework for understanding student-athlete
development, research shows that student-athlete concerns and issues have been buried in studies
of traditional student attrition because no framework has been available to guide on the college
student-athlete experience (Comeaux, 2007 & Ferris et al., 2004). Although there are many
programs that are offered for students on their field of sport, there are many other programs that
need to be analyzed that concentrate on academic eligibility and graduation success, and the
developmental tasks student-athletes face. The literature argues that to assist student-athletes
with their development and career transition success, student affairs practitioners must recognize
the three major and related challenges these students face: academic, athletic, and personal
(Comeaux, 2007; Stoll, 2012). Lastly, despite The National Collegiate Athletic Association
(NCAA) and universities efforts to improve the overall educational experiences of Division I
student-athletes, it would be important to understand the historical development of the NCAA
and the popularity of college athletics. This insight can help student affairs professionals
STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 40
understand the breadth and depth of the conflict between both realms of academic and athletic
for student-athletes (Watt et al., 2002).
Implications
Multiple agents play a role in socializing students to the both their athletic identity and
student identity’s. The above literature makes an important contribution to our understanding of
the of career planning of college student-athletes and the relationships among their career
identity athletic identities, and student role identities. Yet, the subsequent descent of their athletic
identities may allow them to invest in other roles, such as their student role, or their new role in
their transitioned career. Investment in the student role identity may encourage the exploration of
professional vocations linked to their academic programs (Brown, Glastetter-Fender & Shelton,
2000). At the root of research, it would be important to conclude if higher education leaders and
student affairs are at the foreground of understanding the problem of student-athlete career
transitions (Comeaux, 2007; Stoll, 2012). The findings suggest that their strong and exclusive
identification with the athlete role may hamper their career planning during their early university
careers. Since there are varying theories that affect student development, it will be crucial to
explore all the varying factors that contribute to the success of the student-athlete in hopes to
create a holistic approach that takes all institutional, sport, and student-athlete perspectives to
assist with student-athlete career transitions. Overall, the three common factors of student
identity, athletic identity, career identity and academics highlighted by the literature can impact
student-athletes having positive impact on career transition, administrative roles, and other
stakeholder’s role in the student-athlete transition into their career.

STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 41
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY
The literature of Comeaux (2007), Gayles and Hu (2009), Lally and Kerr (2005) and
Miller and Kerr (2002) was reflected throughout this study exploring the effects of student-
athletes’ experiences impact their college outcomes and fulfillment of career transitions. This
study collected qualitative data from interviews with former student-athletes about their career
transition. The context of this study was an investigation into the demands of both the athlete
and student identity and the environmental factors that contribute to their career transitions. This
study helped to fill an information gap on the impact of their dual identities and student
engagement associated with student-athletes. Previous literature explicitly examined the scope of
student engagement in terms of occupational influence after college, however does not provide a
conceptual framework to demonstrate that student-athlete experiences contribute to successful
career transitions. Since there is no established framework for student-athlete and their career
transitions, Chickering and Schlossberg transition (1995) theory of transition and Lent and
Brown’s (1994, 2006) SCCT framed this study. By utilizing Chickering and Schlossberg’s
(1995) conceptual framework of Transition Theory and Lent and Brown’s (1994, 2006) SCCT, it
was useful in studying how student-athletes make meaning of their career transitions. This study
utilized interviews with former student-athletes at the university level, to explore the ways in
which the relationships among student-athletes' career transition, athletic experiences, and
student engagement contributed to student-athlete’s career transition off their field of sport.
Purpose and Research Questions
The objective of this study was to demonstrate a connection of intercollegiate athletic
experiences with career transition. The purpose of this study was to address the problem through
constant comparative, qualitative research into the role of student- athlete experiences play into
STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 42
career transitions. Achieving the purpose of this study helped fill an empirical research gap by
testing the relationship between student-athletes college engagement and their career transition.
The following questions guided this research:
1. How does participation in athletics contribute to navigating college as a college athlete?
2. How does being a college athlete facilitate a healthy career transition?
3. What factors contribute to the identity development of student-athletes and their career
transitions?
Why Qualitative Methods
The benefit of qualitative research is that participants or sites are purposefully selected
that will best help the researcher understand the problem and the research question. For the
purpose of this study, qualitative methods were the best format to utilize since it captures the
student-athlete experience, by focusing on the specific experiences of student-athletes. Through
the use of qualitative research approach for this study, it can provide details about human
behavior, emotion, and personality characteristics that quantitative studies cannot match. More
specifically, qualitative data for this study included information about their behaviors, needs,
desires, routines, and a variety of other information that is essential in designing a potential
resolution that will help them and their attending institutions. By utilizing a qualitative method
approach, interviews will be used to define the study. Standardized open-ended interviewing was
necessary for this study since we could not observe behavior, feelings, or how they interpreted
their environment within their institution (Patton, 2002). Interviewing was necessary because the
study focused on past events that cannot be replicated. In order to attain the most holistic
approach various divisions and sports were highlighted to allow the study to offer an opportunity
of generalizability for the study. Interviews will allow the researcher to capture the spoken
STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 43
elements of the student-athlete experience that contributed to the chosen qualitative method
approach.
Research Design
A non-probability sampling technique of purposive convenience sampling was used to
select the participating participants for the study (Merriam, 2009). This sampling technique was
used because of their convenient accessibility and proximity. The student sample for this study
consisted of former students-athletes who have healthily transitioned into their careers. Former
student-athletes were utilized for this study for their proximity and easy access to research. The
selected participants and data collected consisted of former student-athletes who were enrolled in
different disciplines representing different institutions and NCAA divisions.
Participants
Former student-athletes that participated in this study were selected from various former
sports and institutions with no preference given to race, ethnicity, or gender were invited to
participate. The student-athlete sample size utilized 13 former student-athletes who have
healthily transitioned into their careers. Participants had to have been at least three years from a
4-year university. Each former athlete represented a sport from a NCAA Divisions I, II, III, as
well one former student-athlete who competed only one season of their sport. Eight of the
participants are women and five are men. Of the 13 participants four participated in football, one
in rugby, four in basketball, two in soccer, and two in softball. The use of this sample was
particularly useful because they have already processed their own career transition and have
established outcomes. Understanding the process that led to each participant’s career transition
will empower them to gain control over their own professional futures by utilizing former
student-athletes’ experiences as a guide. Institutional review board approval was submitted
STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 44
followed by contact of athletes. These participants were informed of the purpose of the study and
encouraged to participate. Data was collected through interviews.
Measurement Instrument
Standardized open-ended interviews were utilized for their flexibility and increasing
comparability of responses (Patton, 2002). A constructivist paradigm guided the decisions for the
interview protocol. This paradigm shaped the format of the interview questions to represent the
multiple realities that student-athletes face on a daily basis, as well as shape how to analyze the
data within their responses. By using this paradigm, it was quite easy to maintain focus and
format for the interview so that protocols proceeded as planned. Moreover, Kaminsky and
Behrend (2015) application of Lent and Brown’s (1994, 2006) SCCT helped establish an outline
for the formation and sequence of questions. The theory is mapped into four components of (1)
how basic academic and career interests develop, (2) how educational and career choices are
made, (3) how academic and career success is obtained and (4) the role of self-efficacy into those
goals. In addition to SCCT, Schlossberg’s transition theory was utilized to help frame the
category of questions. Schlossberg identified four major sets of factors that influence a person's
ability to cope with a transition: situation, self, support, and strategies, which are also known as
the 4 S's.
Data Collection
Merriam (2009) describes semi-structured interviews as a mix of structured and
unstructured open-ended questions guided by a list of questions or issues to be explored,
allowing the researcher to adjust to the emerging worldview of the respondent. For that reason,
semi-structured interviews were utilized for this study. This method allowed the focus of student-
athletes experiences to be compared with our experiential understanding. In order to ensure that
STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 45
the study was conducted ethically, three steps were performed. The first step was the protection
of subjects from harm for the participants of the study (Merriam, 2009). The second was
obtaining informed consent from the participants, as well as assuring the participants that they
were not being deceived in the study (Merriam, 2009). The final step to ensure that the study was
performed in an ethical manner was to disclose to the participants that they had the right to
withdraw at any stage in the research process (Merriam, 2009). Participants of the study were
provided a full disclosure of the study with reference to the purpose of the study, confidentiality,
and opportunity for the students to fill the empirical gap with student-athlete career transitions.
The Institutional Research Board at the University of Southern California approved the research,
survey and procedures of this study in August 2016.
Analysis
Data analysis was framed within a constant comparative method in grounded theory. By
utilizing the constant comparative method the analysis of interview data is broken into three parts
of analysis. The first part of analysis is open coding. Open coding analysis provides an initial
process of segmenting data into categories for comparison and conceptualization. The second
analysis is axial coding. The use of axial coding for the interviews allowed for the beginning of
connections between the forming categories within the study. The last approach used in the
constant comparative framework is selective coding. By advancing the final analysis through
selective coding it validates emerging themes that began to surface with the student-athlete
experience with their career transitions. In order to ensure the credibility of participant
interviews, member checks and internal validity was conducted to ensure that research findings
matched the described experiences of the student-athletes. Further, triangulation and its use of
multiple data (gender, sport, ethnicity, division) was used to ensure the quality and credibility of
STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 46
the data discovered (Merriam, 2009). Further analysis of the data applies the constant
comparative framework findings to SCCT use of self-efficacy and Schlossberg’s transition
theory to determine how salient student-athlete’s dual identities contribute to their career
transitioning.
STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 47
CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS
The focus of this study were the significant factors that contributed to student-athletes’
healthy career transition. The data presented below highlight how their experiences helped
shaped them and provided them with tools for their career transitions. This chapter presented the
findings of interviews from former student-athletes. Each of these former athletes represents one
of the three divisions. These professionals were former student-athletes who played football,
basketball, softball, and rugby at the collegiate level. In this qualitative research, analysis and
interpretation were closely intertwined. However, analysis of the results is presented in Chapter
Five. To organize this chapter, the results were grouped into themes that emerged from the
participants’ responses and how they answer the research questions:
1. How does participation in athletics contribute to navigating college as a college athlete?
2. How does being a college athlete facilitate a healthy career transition?
3. What factors contribute to the identity development of student-athletes and their career
transitions?
Direct quotations from the participants were used to illustrate concepts and provide insight into
answers to the research questions. Results revealed how former student-athletes’ experiences
contributed to their development and their career transitions through four central spheres. The
relationships between these four themes were described as positive.
Description of the Sample
Thirteen former student-athletes participated in semi-structured interviews to share their
experiences. Each was identified as having a healthy career transition. Participants were selected
from various former sports and institutions with no preference given to race, ethnicity, or gender.
Eight are women and five are men. Eleven work in higher education at a private research
STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 48
university, seven of whom serve as academic advisors in their institution’s athletics department,
two work in university advancement, one serves as an assistant dean of a department, and the last
is a faculty member. The remaining two participants work in an education nonprofit on the east
coast. Twelve of the participants competed all four years of their undergrad, while one competed
only one season of their sport.
Results for Research Question One
The purpose of research question one was to determine how participation in athletics
contribute to navigating college as a college athlete. According to Comeaux (2007) and Ferris et
al., (2004) the divide between both identities is representative of the college experience and
contributing environmental factors to the development of their undergraduate success. The theme
that emerged from the data directly related to the first research question is organizational
influence. The data directly supports what previous literature indicated. All participants shared
the sentiment that their team was influential to them.
Organizational Influence
Participants’ experiences through athletics played an important role in navigating their
college journeys. Participants in the interview described valuing their student-athletic journeys
and accomplishments. However, many of the participants disclosed that, while the institution’s
academic quality was important, the quality of its team dynamic and the support it offered
provided long-term influence on how they viewed their careers. As Participant A shared, “the
dynamic of the team and the coaching staff” were important to fueling aspects of their athletic
identity through the organization’s influence. This study sought to go beyond the single
dimension perspective and discover how athletic identities carried them through their time in
college. Participant A shared how their athletic identity was a valuable contributing force to
STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 49
navigating their time in college through the dynamic of the team and staff. Participant J echoed
the same sentiment of the staff in stating,
Obviously, the first part is the team. And those are your friends, and you get to see them
all the time. And then the second piece, especially as I got older, was just traveling
because you got to see so many different parts of the country.
Both Participant A and J shared how at the core of their navigation through college was from
their team directly. Their immediate support and organizational influence stemmed from their
surrounding team and coaches that assisted their college navigation. In summary, their
participation in college athletics offered a support system that provided them a quality
experience that was beneficial to their undergraduate success.
Results for Research Question Two
The purpose of research question two was to determine how being a college athlete
facilitated a healthy career transition as well as to help fill the gap within current literature.
Baillie and Danish (1992) and Fleming (2011) discuss how academic achievement as well as
student-athlete engagement on campus play a vital role with how they transition into a career
post-sport. Additionally, Wylleman, Alfermann, and Lavallee’s (2004), attempt to explain sport
retirement from a life span perspective fails to list specific indicators that would ensure the
successful transition of a student-athlete into their career. The theme that emerged from data
pertaining to the second research question was transferable skills. Though research determined
that athletics plays a vital role post-sport, it fails to list specific factors. Additionally, the
transition models for student-athletes and career identity developments for non-athletes fail to
address specific skills that can be transitioned into a career (Sanstedt et al., 2004; Park, Tod, &
Lavallee, 2012; Harrison and Lawrence, 2004; Leung, 2008; Niles, 2005; Stringer and
STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 50
Kerpelman, 2010). The data below offered to help fill the gap of literature. Twelve participants
discussed transferable skills.
Transferable Skills
In athletics, transferable skills are learned through sports that can be applicable to other
areas of life such as their career. The participants’ experiences can be broken down into six
athletic transferable skills of time management, leadership, focus, team building, goal-setting,
and resiliency.
Time management. The ability to balance a rigorous work load of full-time athletics,
travel, and school, maintaining good grades is an important quality to have and carry over into a
career. The ability to time manage your tasks allows you to work more efficiently and allows you
lessen the daily stress you may encounter. Participant F stated,
And I think my time management because I always have to manage my time in college,
so learning how to work on different projects at the same time, and still being able to get
them done. And just being able to, like, I'm able to balance work-life probably some
other people, because I always had to do basketball in school, and just personal time. So,
I'm not as stressed out as I see a lot of my coworkers are, because I'm able to balance a
work-life load.
Like Participant F, Participant E attributes their ability to be successful with time and
organization to being an athlete. Participant E indicated,
Time management is number one. I lost or performance anxiety. I had none. I'm able to
perform. I'd rather perform under pressure. [Athletics] helped prepare me simply because
the work required to be a successful athlete at that level is unbelievable, then the duality
of being a student-athlete. It's literally, if a regular student had to use the amount of
STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 51
energy and time management to be successful in both areas of being a student-athlete, it
would blow their minds. So, a lot of themes that I did well that elevated me as an athlete
have been strong contributors to my success as a professional.
Participant G continues to highlight their experiences as an athlete that allowed them to
more effectively time manage. Like the previous Participants F and E, Participant G continued
by illustrating how time management became ingrained in their daily schedule. Participant G
stated,
So, you just kind of had to balance that starting young. You had to go to class. Then you
had to practice after. Then you had games on the weekend. And you still had to get your
homework completed. And that transferred over to high school. It was the same thing:
you had to go to practice after class; you had to complete your schoolwork; you had to go
to school; we had to travel sometimes and make arrangements with your professors. So
when I came to college, I mean, it's just something that I've been doing all along.
All participants provide instances of how their participation in collegiate athletics have given
them the ability to success in their careers. Their experiences directly highlight the direct
influences athletics, and their time as a student-athlete have positively influenced their careers.
Leadership skills. As athletes train and compete, they inherently create leadership skills
by routinely set goals and establish steady flow of communication between themselves, coach,
and teammates. This same skill can be used in all areas of life. The ability to effectively lead and
goal set is an important method for self-motivation and task orientation. Participant A stated,
I definitely think it taught me tolerance and patience. It taught me to strive in a more
chaotic environment and to slow things down and do it my way. We always had this
saying. ‘It's your game. You play your game. You don't let them play their game.’ So it
STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 52
definitely taught me a lot of that and then a lot of leadership skills. It taught me a lot of
leadership skills going in. So that was really helpful because now I can thrive in a
situation that most people don't have the experience in, and I can be okay in it, so.
Like Participant A, Participant E shared how their time within athletics allowed them to develop
leadership qualities that was beneficial to them in their career. Participant E stated,
leadership qualities, understanding where you fit in the hierarchy of leaders, being able to
do your job, complete your job, and if necessary do more. Those are all the things-- some
of the things that have allowed me to be successful. And then just accepting my role in
whatever organization that I'm in. Not saying that I'm satisfied with it because I'm never,
but accept your role in a way that allows you to be excellent with regards to how you
perform.
Not only do leadership skills help with varying aspects of life, but they also provide an increased
level of self-confidence, something that can really help, especially when entering sports and
career transitions.
Focus. Athletes, especially student-athletes, have to learn self-discipline and block out
distractions while sharpening their focus on the things that are important and relevant. While
playing their sport in higher education there will be many opportunities such as parties, events,
and study groups to distract at student-athlete from meeting a particular goal. Though some
distractions may be categorized as more positive than others, it is important for the student-
athlete to focus on meeting their end goals. This type of environment can parallel what former
student-athletes may experience in their career. For example, Participant L stated,
You come into a professional workplace expecting everyone to be professional, and you
come across all different kinds of personalities. So I think having been a part of the team-
STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 53
- and being part of a team is challenging. There's going to be conflicts, right? Because if
things don't always go our way. So that prepared me, and coming into the workforce was
like, ‘Wait. Why are some of these people acting like this?’ And so to deal with
challenges, and office politics, and so forth.
The above quote parallels the experiences of being part of an athletic team college will come
with different challenges that can be applicable to a career or professional setting. The ability to
maintain focused is an important skill to have to maintain efficiency not only on their field of
sport but in their career setting as well.
Team building. Team bonding brings people together by encouraging collaboration and
teamwork. Team bonding activities also improve workplace projects that involve multiple
participants to complete a task. Through team building, these former student-athletes better
understand their colleagues’ strengths, weaknesses, and interests in their career setting. This
understanding helps them work even better together on future progress vital to a company.
For example Participant F stated,
being on a team, and learning how to work with different types of people and different
type of personalities, it really helped me-- especially now, I can definitely still work, and
learning how to work with people with different work styles.
Like the experiences of Participant F, Participant I elaborates on team development, by
alluding to factors such as leadership, commitment, and critique to help improve the overall
dynamic of the team and team building. Participant I stated,
Absolutely. Because I know about teamwork, I know about hard work, I know about
getting it done because it wasn't a question. Like if you don't get your work done then
you don't play. There was more consequences than it would it be for student who didn't
STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 54
have a sport allocated to them. I think one hundred percent and I'm competitive as hell,
too. I want to get my work done. I want everybody else to be good, too, so I don't push
other people. I think that helped because we all get it. We've all been there. It helps
having so many athletes as you've seen.
Participant K further contributes how team building has helped in their career:
I think a lot of those skills that you have to demonstrate when you're playing a sport on a
team comes into play when you're working with coworkers. If conflict arises, how are
you going to handle it? Or are you someone that's just going to follow while someone
else leads? And you can kind of figure out, I think, what you're good at and where your
place is so I would say 100% that sports have--Helped out.
The above quotes demonstrate participants saw the importance of creating an environment that
pushes for improvement, as well as highlighted the ability to work effectively in a constructive
manner. To them, all of this is important to carry into a career setting where multiple people are
trying to achieve a departments goals.
Goal-setting. Athletes know the importance of setting incremental goals to achieve their
desired outcomes. Athletes use each achievement of their achieved goals as motivation,
especially during off-season drills and conditioning. The same is true in a career setting.
Participant C indicated,
Yeah, I think the goal-setting of athletics was really helpful. You have, in athletics, these
incremental goals. I want to be better at free-throw shooting, and you can visualize what
that looks like, and then get after it, and by practice, you get better at it. And I think that
really helped me realize that that's the way I can think about other things in life too, just
practice them and get better.
STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 55
Understanding the importance of goal-setting in crucial in any sport and is very applicable in a
career. Without understanding the true advantages of goal-setting it may make an athletic season
difficult to achieve desired outcomes such as progressive wins throughout the season, playoffs
and winning championships. This same mindset applied in their career setting which can help
their department complete, projects, meet quotas, and push the department to exceed at meeting
their mission, vision, and values.
Resiliency. It is perhaps the most crucial athletic transferable skill that can be applied in
a career setting. Resiliency or “bouncing back” refers to the capacity an individual has to recover
from adversity. Similar to athletics, a career throws challenges and test our character all the time,
and what we do with the stress and adversity we face in life literally defines our success or
failure. Whether it is from injury or playing time, an athlete’s ability to be resilient and “bounce
back” provides them the necessary tool to be successful on their field of sport. This is important
skill to acquire as working in one’s career will come with its own set of challenges and setbacks.
Participant C stated,
I guess physical therapy was good enough for the average, but then like you need to go a
sports institute now because you're not meeting the goals you want to meet, and if you're
trying to get back on the field, you need to do these other things. You've capped out here,
and that's kind of been like a driving force to get on the field, and even though I've tried
to get back on the field in small increments, it's like I'm still here. I can't not stop playing,
or working out, or doing something that pushes me even further.
Like Participant C, Participant B uses their resiliency learned as a student-athlete to achieve their
goals. Participant B shared how being a student-athlete allowed them to be resilient in their
career. Participant B stated,
STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 56
being a student-athlete, going out there. I went into the corporate world for a year, and I
realized that I didn't really enjoy that. But it did help me in terms of my persistence and
kind of working my way up.
Like Participant C and B, Participant H compared their time in athletics to their career by stating,
“So, it's just like perseverance,” to keep progressing in their career. Each of these participants
describe experiences that prepared them to be resilient and keep pushing forward. By
maintaining this mindset, athletes are able to bounce back from adversity and challenges quickly.
This is important to note because their experiences offer a direct application of their skills to be
applied in different arenas. As shown in figure 1, it illustrates the transference of skills from the
participant’s experiences towards their careers.

Figure 1. Transferable Skills
Results for Research Question Three
The purpose of research question three was to determine what factors contributed to the
identity development of student-athletes and their career transitions. According to Pascarella and
Terenzini (1998) creating a sense of self-worth with access to resources for them and their
identity development has been shown to influence their socialization and subculture onto
• Team
Building
Athletic
Experiences
• Time
Management
• Focus
Transferable
Skills
• Leadership
Skills
• Resiliency
Career
STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 57
campus, which can create a higher self-efficacy for them and their identity development. The two
themes that emerged from this research question were limited resources and environment. Both
of these themes support what previous literature has argued but offered a positive rather than
negative experience that is more commonly argued. Of the 13 participants, 11 of them indicated
that they had limited resources.
Limited Resources
Despite the negative connotation with a lack or limit of resources, this gap served as a
positive influence for these former student-athletes. Most of the participating former athletes had
very limited assistance with outside athletic support. Participant B stated, “I didn't. I didn't. I
think that is when I would have liked that additional academic support. Not only academic but
career transition support. But we didn't really have it in the athletic department.”
Participant E echoed the same sentiment as Participant B when they stated,
No. We lived in a bubble. Football at the [university name] then - and hopefully it's not
that way now - isolated you as a student-athlete, to be perfectly honest. Our academic
advisor, our study sessions, study hall was all in one unit. And it was-- you had to make
an enormous effort to build relationships outside of the athletic department, and it was
difficult.
Like Participant B and E, Participant I shared how their limited resources during their time as a
student-athlete which contributed to their identity development and their career transitions.
I just wish I would have had more. Because even now, what we provide to all the student-
athletes, it's-- and granted it's a different time or whatever, but still, I don't think that they
did enough for us. Actually, even looking back in graduation, I didn't get to walk because
that was during our tournament. But they did nothing for us. They didn't take pictures,
STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 58
they didn't even remind me to get my cap and gown. There was nothing. I have zero
memories, picture memories, of me in a cap and gown at all.
When it comes to career development or assistance with career transitioning, participants seldom
mentioned coaches as a primary source of support. However, some participants emphasized the
importance of having those athletic experiences helped define who they are today. Despite the
indicated limited resources from the participants at a university, their participation in their
athletic program was highlighted as a positive experience.
Environment
Environment was the second theme that emerged from the third research question. For
the 13 athletes, environment heavily contributed to their identity development as student-athletes
as well as their career transitions. There are advantages to interacting with other athletes. The
athletic culture on this campus provided an access to a wide variety of athletes that are sharing
the similar experiences with access to student development and support with each other. It
provided an additional perspective that when student-athletes are searching for support or
development, that they may gain that information from other student-athletes versus solely
expecting it from administration, which ultimately assisted the participants with their career
transitioning.
Participant C stated,
I think it really helped me especially in terms of social capital and social networks,
because I had close friends that you really bond with in these team situations that were
going through the same kind of career transitions, so I could talk about it with them, and
I'd already talked about things that were really intense with them in terms of team issues
STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 59
or-- so I was close with them, and so they were like a support network. I think that was
really helpful.
In the realm of athletics Participant L shared how their overall experiences and time within this
environment has help shaped their overall framework of life and career. Participant L stated,
I just think that being a college athlete really provides you with a great foundation going
forward in life in general, right, inside and outside of your career. So I would recommend
it to anyone at any level to be involved, even the club sports they have. It just prepares
you to work hard, be a part of a team, and to always strive to be better.
The environment, development, and athletic experiences all intersect to create a point where all
skills can be applicable to a career transition.
Chapter Summary
Results of participants were beneficial to uncovering the following four major themes:
organizational influence, transferable skills, limited resources and environment. These themes
emerged from the participants’ backgrounds, motivation and lifelong experiences as athletes.
This section was a detailed account of the participants’ origins and the results from each
interview. To provide anonymity, pseudonyms were assigned to each participant. In this chapter,
the results of the one-on-one interviews with former student-athletes from various sports and
divisions were presented.
Conclusion
The direct accounts from their experiences shed light on the various athletic experiences
that transferred into their career transitions. The next chapter will present an interpretation of the
results, and what they mean and signify; recommendations will also be presented based on the
findings. The findings of this study revealed how the former student-athlete participant’s athletic
STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 60
experiences influenced their career transitions. In delving into this entire process of the study, it
provided a difference lens of how different campuses and athletes experiences help shape their
navigation in college and later their career transitions through their athletic identity. Through the
experiences of the 13 participants, it helped provide a textured perspective to how athletic
identities assist with career transitions post-sport.

STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 61
CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSION
While many studies have been conducted looking at the student-athlete experience, the
focus of these studies has been on their transition onto a professional sport or their career-ending
injuries. Therefore, the present study examined the role of student engagement in student-
athletes’ career transitions and how these experiences prepared them for career transition.
Research posits that the differences in educational experiences between athletes and non-athletes
often favor athletes (Umbach et al., 2004). Employing a measure of student engagement to
examine their educational experience provides information related to a variety of educationally
sound practices associated with both learning and personal development, and how those factors
contributed to student-athlete career transitions. The major finding connects college and athletic
experiences with career transition. There are significant environmental indicators/factors that
contributed to the healthy career transition of student-athletes. The experiences of former
student-athletes illustrated how those experiences have helped them and provided them with
tools beyond basic soft-skills to make them successful. Conclusions from the study are presented
along with recommendations and suggestions for future research.
Statement of the Problem
Student-athlete career transitioning is the process by which they are psychologically and
vocationally prepared for the conclusion of sport eligibility and the commencement of a
traditional workplace position (Levy, 2005). The exploration of the impact student-athlete
experiences had on their career transitions is an important component to understand in student
development. Although the role of student engagement has been indirectly linked to career
transitioning through academic achievement, there has been little extant research that directly
investigates the role of student engagement in student-athlete career transitioning. Therefore, the
STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 62
educational problem being addressed in this paper are the various challenges, strengths and
assets of student-athletes and how it prepared them for their career transition. This is a problem
because it is important to understand how student-athletes’ experiences drive their career
transition. This problem is important to address because there is gap in the literature to connect
college and sport experiences with career transitions.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study reviewed several components that contributed to the career
transition of student-athletes. First, a literature review described some of the environmental
indicators that influence student-athlete’s role and engagement. Student-athlete experiences and
their socialization on campus contributed to their career transition (Levy, 2005). Moreover,
development from experiences with sports is highlighted as essential in understanding their
career transition. Third, student development and career theories are applied to the sports
context. These theories had little application to career transition of student-athletes specifically.
A final section on treatment implications is offered to fill the literature gap in addressing the
positive impact of participation in athletics on career transitions.
This qualitative study utilized Kaminsky and Behrend’s (2015) application of Lent and
Brown’s (1994, 2006) SCCT to establish an outline for the formation and sequence of questions.
In addition to SCCT, Chickering and Schlossberg’s (1995) transition theory and 4S model were
utilized to frame the category of interview questions. Both theories contributed to the study, and
helped provide a framework to why they experience healthy career transitions.

STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 63
Methodology
Interviews with former university student-athletes explored the ways in which their
experiences contributed to their career transition. Purposive convenience sampling was used to
select the participants (Merriam, 2009).
Limitations and Delimitations
This study was bounded by a specific set of limitations. First, individual interviews
occurred after the former student-athletes’ intercollegiate athletics experiences. Therefore,
former student-athletes were required to reflect upon experiences throughout their higher
education time. Therefore, the self-reported data may offer a perspective that was biased and not
authentic. Secondly, in order to yield the richest data, a longitudinal approach would have been
ideal to cross compare the early perceptions of graduating student-athletes and map their journey
through their post-graduation years of their careers. Due to the limitations of the scope and
timeframe, it was not practical to conduct such a study with such an approach. In this study,
former student-athletes from various institutions who transitioned into their careers were
interviewed. Finally, because the sample did not come from every institution and represent every
institutional type, the experiences reported cannot be assumed to be representative of all NCAA
programs.
This study was intentionally bounded or delimited to a specific population of former
student-athletes who graduated from Division I-III universities. This phenomenological
approach achieved its goal to understand their individual experiences. Findings were seen as
guiding themes to further explain a newer area of inquiry and the phenomenon of what life
experiences influenced them as they construct individual career paths. The current findings aid in
understanding the career transitions of former student-athletes.
STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 64
The research focused on identity as an athlete, career transitions, and what factors
contribute to their development. Though the focus of three show an interrelation it would be of
particular interest in this case to see if the participants’ parents were also former athletes and how
that contributed to their identity development or later career transitions. This became prevalent
with on outlier of the study who competed for only one season of their sport, but heavily relied
on their parent’s athletic identity during their collegiate years. While the participants are assured
their responses are confidential, this may not deter them from responding in a more desirable
way.
While the minimal findings are an indication that the shared experiences are related, it
was also an indication of other issues related to the data and the sample. It may signify that
improvements are necessary to understand their career transitions. The minimal findings could
be due to time limitation and issues trying recruiting participants. Additionally, utilizing a
constant comparative analysis can be subjective in terms of developing codes. Better variables
or measures were necessary to further understand career transitions for this population.
The formatting of semi-structured interviews can also limit the richness of data, as some
participants are more willing to provide detailed experiences than others. Time is another
limitation. The duration of each interview varied from eight minutes to one hour. Time variation
provided a different scope of data as well as provided different insight to how each participant
reflected on their experiences.
Summary of Results
This study provided a review of several components that contributed to the career
transition of student-athletes as well as assess the experiences of 13 former student-athletes
who graduated from a four-year institution. Based on the semi-structured interviews, the
STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 65
following conclusions were determined. During their time as undergraduates, two
participants indicated that they had access to campus resources, and/or utilized the resources
that were available to them. However, 11 of the participants shared that they did not have
resources available to assist them with career or academic advisement. During their
interviews, 12 participants shared that they that they identified heavily with their athletic
identities. Additionally, these 12 shared that they believed that their experiences as an athlete
contributed to their career transitions. Finally, all 13 participants agreed that their athletic
experiences provided transferable skills that were applicable to their careers.
While conducting this research, the following four major themes emerged which are
descriptive of the student-athletes’ perceptions, thoughts, and feelings concerning their athletic
experiences and their career transitions: organizational influence, transferable skills, limited
resources and environment. The theme organizational influence emerged from the first research
question. Multiple agents play a role in socializing students, including staff in athletic
departments. According to Miller and Kerr (2002), Wolverton (2008), and Watt and Moore
(2008) the term student-athletes implies that all enrolled students who play college sports are
engaged in secondary extra-curricular activities that enhance their education. Research further
posited that creating a sense of self-worth with access to resources for them influences their
socialization and subculture onto campus, which can create higher self-efficacy (Pascarella &
Terenzini, 1998). Huffmon and Doyle (2008) argued that social distance is a product of the
extensive travel, practice time, and family-like orientation that exists within the athletic culture.
This means that the factors that they are exposed to create an influential environment. For the
participants, their data described a family-like orientation that contributed to how they navigated
college. Their shared influence was further described as the team and program. It is the shared
STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 66
relations of their teammates that builds a unit of support for socialization on their campuses,
which in turn allowed their identities as athletes to drive their college navigation. The data
collected showed that the organizational influence for the former student-athletes carried a heavy
influence with how they navigated college as an athlete.
The second theme of transferable skills emerged and supports the second research
question. Their related athletic experiences support Bandura’s (1986) general social cognitive
theory, and Lent and Brown (1994, 2006) SCCT. These frameworks focus on Bandura’s (1986)
reliance on both person and contextual variables, and the premise that a person and their
environment are constantly in flux supports the notion that their athletic experiences prepare
them with transferable skills to adjust with a career’s changing demands. This is important to
note because, like in sport, it is important to adjust to new situations. It is this type of transferable
skill that makes these participants more resilient. Additionally, though the Stringer and
Kerpelman’s (2010) career identity development framework examines four factors that
contribute to college students’ identity development, it heavily relies on their environment and
experiences. This further supports the notion that transferable skills can be developed and
utilized into a new forum.
The five career development theories that focus on the advisement and development of
employment (Leung, 2008; Niles, 2005) provide an analysis of abilities (skills, knowledge,
experience, attitude, behaviors) that correspond with the requirements of a new career role and
the likelihood this will be performed and perceived as satisfactory. This likelihood is defined
through the data as transferable skills. These transferable skills make for a specific indicator
missing in Wylleman, Alfermann, and Lavallee’s (2004) attempt to explain sport retirement from
STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 67
a life span perspective that would ensure the successful transition of a student-athlete into their
career.
The data shows that transferable skills support this transition, but, at the core of the
transition, it was their experiences as student-athletes that fueled the process. Research defined
that their balance with dual-role identities: full-time athlete and full-time student (Miller & Kerr,
2002). The participants highlighted that it is their relation to their athletic experiences that helped
facilitate their career transitions. Most importantly the participants discussed how their athletic
experiences played a vital role with how they transitioned into a career. This data will help fill
the empirical evidence lacking from the three models presented. Other studies focused on
important factors of the transition process but did not have information related to the how each
factor influenced the transition. This study provided an answer as to how transferable skills are a
key component of their athletic experiences and apply to their careers.
The third and fourth themes support the final research question. The themes of limited
resources and environment are representative of the struggle that the institution has with offering
them a legitimate college experience (Comeaux, 2007). The data from this study highlight that
the environment and limited resources had an impact on participants in terms of creating stronger
self-efficacy and resiliency.
Implications for Practice
How athletic experiences affect career transitions was identified as an area for
exploration. This study uncovered findings that stimulated discussion among specific
institutional practitioners, such as coaches. Though the majority of the participants indicated the
lack of career development programming at their institutions did not hinder their experiences. It
could be suggested that the coaching staff be mindful of their coaching techniques to ensure that
STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 68
their players develop transferable skills. As several participants noted, their schedules were strict
and their time was spent mostly with coaching staff. This means that coaching or university
programming may not need to cater to student-athletes with career workshops, but, rather, should
focus on providing more resources, such as career development or assistance with career
transitioning, that address the needs their needs and so that the individual may carry on those
skills in their future careers. It could be argued from the experiences of these participants that
having a strong athletic identity is a necessary requirement of being an elite athlete. Such as a
strong commitment in training and a focus on sport related goals possessing the motivation and
discipline necessary for intense training and success in high level sport; as well as a positive
effects on athletic performance and improved social relationships.
Recommendations for Practice
Studies have failed to create any linkage between athletics and transition to careers.
Arguably, this gap in literature failed to provide a complete canon within the literature of how
athletic participation provides additional value and enhancement to career transition.
Implications for this research are to help student affairs practitioners, athletics administrators,
faculty, and coaches better understand the areas that assist student-athlete career transitions. Due
to study limitations, as well as concepts that emerged, suggestions for future study on career
transition are presented.
Recommendations for Future Research
This study generally focused on the experiences of female and male student-athletes in
NCAA Divisions I, II, and III to fill a gap in existing research. Further study is needed on
gender differences that may exist, specifically as they pertain to revenue and non-revenue sports.
Additionally an analysis of the differences between revenue and non-revenue generating sports
STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 69
should be investigated to see if there is a difference with how those athletes’ experiences
contribute to their career transitions. Because the sample included all divisions and genders, we
cannot ascertain whether the experiences will continue to match with a larger data sample.
Additionally, it would be important to assess whether there are differences between the
experiences of former student-athletes whose parents also played collegiate sports or sports in
general. Though previous literature of Adler & Adler (1991) and Miller and Kerr (2002) noted
connections between athletic participation and development of a high level of self-esteem,
leadership and teamwork skills, motivation, and discipline, which ultimately influences their
career transition from their athletic identity. It would be important to further research if dual
identities exist through their collegiate years. It would be important to understand the full
spectrum that they may not have dual identity, but rather one identity serving two roles in their
experiences. Continued research on the career transition experiences of former student-athletes
will be useful for athletic departments and institutions in developing additional programs and
services to meet the needs of this student population. For more accurate accounts of athletic
experiences application to career transitioning, data should be collected post-graduation and
followed up in 5 and 10 year intervals.
Criteria for this study included participation on the Division I, II, or III level and having
had a healthy career transition. One assumption was that attained transferable skills that aided
them in their career transitions. This in no way suggests that community college student-athletes
have fewer transferable skills. More study is needed on their experiences from community
college. Furthermore, a majority of the institutions in this study were research universities. It
would be instructive to learn whether institution or sport is related to the career transitions.

STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 70
Conclusion
Overall, this study has implied that student-athletes demonstrate that they have the
necessary tools and transferable skills they need to career transition upon graduation. Further,
this study has shown there is more research needed to define the experiential learning of student-
athletes and how these apply to their career transitions. More directly, it is important to expand
the literature of the role student engagement plays in student-athletes’ transition to their careers.
Continued research on these experiences will benefit not only student-athletes, but athletic
departments, and institutions in establishing additional programs and services to meet the needs
of this population. By doing so, institutions will help enhance the experiences of student-athletes
that can further contribute to their career transitions and future research.

STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 71
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STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 77
Appendix
Interview Protocol
Informed Consent and Interview Protocol

Participant ID:_________________________ Date: ___________________

Part A. Informed Consent

Thank you (name participant) for agreeing to participate in my study regarding career
transitions of student-athletes. I appreciate the time that you have set aside to answer some of my
questions for my study. The interview should take about an hour, does that work for you?

Before we get started, I want to provide you with an overview of my study and answer any
questions you might have about participating in my study. You have been invited to participate
in the interview phase of my data collection for my doctoral dissertation at the University of
Southern California because of your experience as a student-athlete and current career standing.

I want to assure you that I am strictly wearing the hat of researcher today. My study does not aim
to evaluate your experiences. Rather, I am trying to learn more about your perception of, and
experiences as a student-athlete that may have facilitated a healthy career transition. The purpose
of this study is two-fold: To understand student-athlete experiences throughout this collegiate
career and, to explore how those experiences facilitate a healthy career transition.

The interview questions below will explore the following research questions:
1. How does participation in athletics contribute to navigating college as a college athlete?
2. How does being a college athlete facilitate a healthy career transition?
3. What factors contribute to the identity development of student-athletes and their career
transitions?
Do you have any questions about the study before we get started? If you don’t have any (more)
questions, I would like to have your permission to begin the interview regarding the topic I have
just discussed with you. For your information, only the researcher on the project will be privy to
the audio recordings, which will be eventually destroyed after they are transcribed. In addition,
you must sign this form devised to meet our human subject requirements. Essentially, this
document states that: (1) all information will be held confidential, (2) your participation is
voluntary and you may stop at any time if you feel uncomfortable, and (3) I do not intend to
inflict any harm.
STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 78
I have planned this interview to last no longer than one hour. During this time, I have several
questions that I would like to ask. If time begins to run short, it may be necessary to interrupt you
in order to push ahead and complete this line of questioning.
This consent form establishes that you have read and understood what participating in this
research study will involve. Please initial each item below that apply:
1. I confirm that I have read and understand the information sheet for the above study and
have had the opportunity to ask questions. Initials________
2. I understand that taking part in voluntary and that I am free to withdraw at any time,
without giving any reason. Initials________
3. I understand that any information that I give will only be used anonymously and I will
not be identified when my views are presented to other participants or in any publications
and reports. Initials________
4. I agree to take part in this study. Initials________
Name: ____________________________________ Date: __________________
Signature________________________________________________
Thank you for your agreeing to participate.

Part B. Introduction

Since you have identified yourself as someone who meets the above criteria, I am hoping
we could start with you telling me a little bit about the sport you play at this institution. How did
you come about to play this sport? Were you recruited (walk-on, scholarship)?

Part C. Background Information
1. How old were you when you began your athletic career?
2. What was the most important thing that has kept you playing your sport?
3. What did you find most enjoyable about your sport?
4. As far back as you can remember, what were your life goals athletically, academically
and/or career-wise?

Part D. Student-Athlete Career Transition
5. What was your main goal, short and long-term, when you began participating in your
sport?
6. Were you prepared to deal with the additional demands of being a college student-
athlete? How did you deal with these demands? What did you find most effective?
7. During your last year of athletic eligibility, what were your sport and/or non-sport goals?
What was your college major(s) at this time?
8. Did you talk about career plans with a faculty member or advisor?
9. Was there a structure in place to help you with your career transition (courses, programs,
professors, teammates, other friends, family, coaches or administrators)? Describe.
STUDENT-ATHLETES’ CAREER TRANSITION 79
10. Do you feel being an athlete helped prepared you for your future career? If so, in what
ways?
11. Explain some of the challenges and successes you had while starting your career.
12. What role, if any, do you feel “student engagement” played in your career transition?
13. What was most beneficial to you in preparing for your career after college
14. What is your current profession?

Closing Question

I am wondering if there is anything that you would add to our conversation today that I
might not have discussed.

Closing (thank you and follow-up)

Thank you so much for you sharing your thoughts with me today! I really appreciate
your time and willingness to share. Everything that you have shared is really helpful for my
study. If I find myself with a follow-up question, I am wondering if I might be able to contact
you, and if so, if email is ok? Again, thank you for participating in my study.

To protect the privacy of respondents, all interview data, including interview recordings and the
principal investigator Divina Vidales will review transcriptions. The respondents’ names, neither
unique identifiers, will be collected nor recorded. The researcher and statistician will be
responsible for analyzing the data.

A qualitative design approach consisting of in-depth interviews and document review methods
will be utilized to explore the factors contribute to the identity development of student-athletes
and their career transitions.

Abstract (if available)

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Asset Metadata

Creator Vidales, M. Divina (author)

Core Title Walking away from the game: a phenomenological study on student-athletes career transition

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Education (Leadership)

Publication Date 04/11/2017

Defense Date 03/09/2017

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag Athletics,career transition,college engagement,OAI-PMH Harvest,student-athlete identity,student-athletes,transferable skills

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Garcia Montano, Guadalupe (committee chair), Green, Alan (committee chair), Freking, Frederick (committee member)

Creator Email vidales@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c40-351725

Unique identifier UC11255918

Identifier etd-VidalesMDi-5161.pdf (filename),usctheses-c40-351725 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-VidalesMDi-5161.pdf

Dmrecord 351725

Document Type Dissertation

Rights Vidales, M. Divina

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA