Jock (athlete) - Education and Athletics

Education and Athletics

The general perception that athletes are unintelligent is derived from the idea that athletic and academic success are mutually exclusive.

In 2005, Dr. Sabina Kleitman, a psychology professor at The University of Sydney and Herbert W. Marsh, employed at Oxford University for the same profession teamed together. The pair conducted surveys of over 12,000 American students to find a correlation between sports and grades. The following is a quote from their published results:

"Achievement can be measured in many ways—grades, homework, attendance, standardized test scores, and enrollment in college. In all of these areas except standardized test scores, even after controlling for economic status, race, and other background variables, athletic participation was significantly correlated to academic achievement. Even after controlling for academic success in 8th and 10th grade, athletic participation was still associated with positive academic outcomes in 13 out of 21 measures in 12th grade and 2 years out of high school. This suggests that athletic participation itself may be responsible for some academic achievement—the later achievement isn't completely explained by earlier academic success."

Despite the fact that many schools recruit for sports, they put stipulations in place that hold student athletes to high standards in order to maintain their scholarships. Schools such as Cornell College recruit students to their athletic teams, but require a student maintain a certain grade-point average in order to have the scholarship renewed. For many young athletes, this is imperative as they could not afford higher education on their own. Therefore, they balance proper study with the demands of their sport.