Beyond the Black/White Binary: A Multi-Institutional Study of Campus Climate and the Academic Success of College Athletes of Different Racial Backgrounds

Abstract

This work contributes to an understanding of college athletes’ experiences with campus climate and its relationship to perceptions of their academic success. This work extends race work to include Latina/o and Asian and Pacific Islander college athlete populations across multiple divisions and sports as the literature is scarce on college athletes of color beyond the Black/White binary and high profile sports. The current paper fills a gap in the literature by applying the Student-Athlete Climate Conceptual Frame and quantitative research on college athletes of color, women college athletes and perceptions of campus climate and academic success. Our findings highlight a relationship between positive perceptions of campus climate and academic success. Participation in academic student organizations is also related to academic success.