Title
Coming to America: Challenges and difficulties faced by African student athletes
Source of Publication
Sport, Education and Society
Abstract
There is a considerable lack of literature on international student athletes despite the extent to which colleges and universities are increasingly relying on them to heighten the winning reputation of their sports programs. This research focuses on international student athletes from Africa. Based on interviews of 16 student athletes from seven different African countries, the range of their experiences upon entering universities in the United States, particularly their challenges, were identified. Many of the serious issues affecting the student athletes were matters related to the host environment's underestimations about the African student athletes' desires to learn, misunderstandings about their culture and religions and other negative assumptions that undermined their academic success. We also found that the vast majority of these student athletes experienced negative stereotypes and discrimination based on their race and their region of origin. © 2011 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.
Document Type
Article
First Page
629
Last Page
644
Publication Date
10-1-2011
DOI
10.1080/13573322.2011.601144
Recommended Citation
Lee, Jenny and Opio, Thomas, "Coming to America: Challenges and difficulties faced by African student athletes" (2011). Scopus Indexed Articles. 2090.
https://zuscholars.zu.ac.ae/scopus-indexed-articles/2090