Allport’s (1954) intergroup contact hypothesis states that interactions with members of an out-group, particularly of a different racial and/or ethnic group, are effective in changing attitudes about diversity (Allport, 1954; Pettigrew, 1998). In this study, the intergroup contact hypothesis was applied to the design of a sport management course. The classroom component focused the role of sport in education, health, and leadership development, and the application was structured sport and physical activity programming with school-age children at several urban sites. Data were gathered from 91 college students over 3 years about course-related experiences and how the students’ backgrounds influenced their social identities and understanding of out-group members. Results showed that intergroup contact effectively assisted in developing understanding and cooperation and reducing negative attitudes between groups. The participants received diversity education, via intergroup contact, both inside and outside the classroom, which will potentially equip them to take proactive strategies when managing organizational diversity in the sport industry.
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Applying Intergroup Contact Theory to the Sport Management Classroom
Jennifer Bruening, Rhema D. Fuller, Raymond J. Cotrufo, Rachel M. Madsen, Justin Evanovich, and Devon E. Wilson-Hill
A Critical Management Studies Approach to Sport Management Education: Insights, Challenges and Opportunities
Sally Shaw, Richard Wolfe, and Wendy Frisby
Sport management education has developed in a manner consistent with conventional management education, focusing on traditional instrumental performance measures and largely ignoring wider social considerations. We endeavour to contribute to the advancement of critical approaches in sport management education. While arguing for the benefits of a sport management education that addresses the complex social issues faced in sport, we provide illustrations of critical teaching in sport management, offering examples from personal pedagogical experience. We conclude with a discussion of pragmatic issues faced in adopting a critical orientation within sport management. Our aim is to provide an approach framed by critical thought that can be used to complement existing teaching paradigms to enhance and bolster the rigour and depth of teaching in sport management.
The Selection of a Sport Management Major: Factors Influencing Student Choice from a Consumer-Oriented Perspective
Meg G. Hancock and T. Christopher Greenwell
Higher education administrators have called on faculty to strategize ways in which to fill classroom seats, as well as recruit and retain diverse students. Understanding current student populations should be of increasing importance to sport management faculty as new programs are established at colleges and universities each year. A sample of 330 sport management students from introductory sport management courses at six different schools was surveyed to identify factors influencing their selection of a sport management major. Results indicate students select the sport management major because they have an interest in sport and working in the sport industry. Program quality and program convenience were also important selection factors. Women had lower salary perceptions and minority students had lower perceptions across most selection factors. Understanding these factors can help programs tailor their marketing and recruiting efforts in an effort to develop a more diverse classroom and workforce.
Mentorship Among Female Sport Management Doctoral Students
Melissa N. Chester and Michael Mondello
The purpose of this study was to ascertain what role mentoring played in female sport management faculty’s decision to pursue doctoral degrees and to investigate and identify factors related to successful transition through the doctoral program. A qualitative, descriptive-interpretive approach utilizing a cross case analysis of current female faculty in sport management was used to discover participants’ subjective views regarding a specific experience or experiences in an effort to provide unique, relevant data (Anda, 2001). This methodology allowed for a greater understanding of the participants and their experiences. Semistructured interviews were conducted with eight participants dichotomized by race: four White and four Black Assistant Professors teaching in undergraduate and graduate programs at various types of Carnegie classified institutions. Collectively, seven major themes and four major personality traits and characteristics developed from verbatim transcriptions of the interviews. The seven themes included athletic involvement, career in athletics, career aspirations, pedagogy decision, influence of mentor, mentor roles, and context of mentoring. The four personality traits and characteristics related to success were athletic involvement/career in athletics, single with no dependents, competitive/confident, and vigilance/determination.
Designing Experiential Learning Curricula to Develop Future Sport Leaders
Kirsty K. Spence, Daniel G. Hess, Mark McDonald, and Beth J. Sheehan
As sport management graduates enter into a rapidly shifting industry with fluctuating environmental conditions, the need for greater leadership capacity arises (Amis, Slack, & Hinings, 2004). Sport management educators can facilitate leadership development by designing and administering undergraduate curricula that focuses on students’ vertical development. According to Cook-Greuter (2004), vertical development is defined as “how we change our interpretations of experience and how we transform our views of reality” (p. 276). The purpose of this paper is to outline a curricular framework that may impact students’ vertical development and thus increase future leadership capacity. To fulfill this purpose, the conceptual connection between vertical development, the Leadership Development Framework (LDF), and Experiential Learning (EL) is first explained. The curricular framework is then outlined in the context of a pilot study facilitated within a sport management (leadership) course in January 2008. Suggestions for future empirical projects to measure the impact of EL curricula on students’ vertical development are also offered.
Environmental Behavior Frameworks of Sport and Recreation Undergraduate Students
Jonathan M. Casper and Michael E. Pfahl
This study examined the values, beliefs, and norms of undergraduate sport management and recreation administration student’s related to environmental awareness and personal actions utilizing Stern’s (2000) value-belief-norm (VBN) framework. Students (N = 341) in sport-related programs at two universities completed the survey. Structural equation modeling found the VBN framework explained both personal and organizational environmental behavior. Values were a significant predictor of environmental beliefs. Beliefs significantly explained personal norms, but not behavior. Personal norms were the strongest indicator for proenvironmental action and predicted personal and organizational conservation behavior equally. This study extends research related to environmental behavior and provides a departure point to improve understandings of the current foundational environmental perspectives held by future sport and recreation managers.
Sport Management Education: Accreditation, Accountability, and Direct Learning Outcome Assessments
Athena Yiamouyiannis, Glenna G. Bower, Joanne Williams, Dina Gentile, and Heather Alderman
Accreditation and accountability in sport management education are necessary to ensure academic rigor and can serve as vehicles by which sport management educators examine and enhance the academic quality of their programs. This paper addresses this topic first with a discussion of the need for accreditation and a review of the accrediting agencies and other entities involved (CHEA, USDE, regional and specialized accrediting agencies, and state involvement). Next is a brief overview of COSMA’s accreditation process, and then a focus on direct learning outcomes and assessment tools. Becoming more familiar with the value and purpose of accreditation in general, as well as the specifics of the COSMA accreditation process as it relates to the common professional components (CPCs) and direct learning outcome assessments, can help with obtaining faculty commitment to the accreditation process and with continued enhancement of the academic quality of sport management programs.
Social Media as a Learning Tool: Sport Management Faculty Perceptions of Digital Pedagogies
Katie Lebel, Karen Danylchuk, and Patti Millar
This research explored the use of social media within the sport management discipline in a North American context, specifically investigating how sport management academicians use social media as a teaching and learning tool. An online survey garnered the social media literacies of sport management faculty (N = 132). Compared with cross-discipline studies that have measured similar interests, sport management faculty appear to have a limited awareness of social media applications. Only 61% of study participants reported having incorporated social media into their course design. While a majority of faculty agreed that the use of social media in education can provide positive enhancement to both teaching and learning, in practice, participant social media teaching strategies were narrowly employed. Results suggest a potential disconnect between the digital pedagogies currently employed by sport management faculty, the expectations of students, and most importantly, the demands of the sport industry.
Interns in Professional Sport: An Investigation of Gender Parity on the Job
Jacquelyn Cuneen and M. Joy Sidwell
Internships permit sport management students to link classroom learning to the professional environment. Since internships provide students with opportunities to learn on-the-job and test their skills in the marketplace, the experiences should be uniformly beneficial to all students regardless of gender. This study was conducted to describe internship work conditions (i.e., opportunities to perform in essential marketplace functions) for male and female sport management interns assigned to ‘Big Four’ professional sport organizations. Participants were 74 sport industry professionals who supervised a total of 103 interns over a one-year period. A X2 Test of Independence found that male and female interns working in professional sport had comparable opportunities to perform and learn on the job. Differences in opportunity, hiring practices, and on-the-job benefits emerged primarily as a function of job specialization (e.g., operations, marketing, venue management), league/association, or gender of the internship supervisor rather than gender of the interns.
U.S. Sport Management Programs in Business Schools: Trends and Key Issues
Noni Zaharia, Anastasios Kaburakis, and David Pierce
The growth of sport management programs housed in (or with formal curriculum-based ties to) a school of business indicates more academic institutions are reconsidering sport management as a business-oriented field. Thus, research is necessary regarding benchmarking information on the state of these academic programs. The purpose of this study is to explore trends on administration, housing, accreditation, faculty performance indicators and research requirements, as well as salaries for faculty and alumni of such programs. Data were submitted by 74 department chairs and program directors employed in U.S. business schools featuring sport management programs. Results indicate that the majority of sport business programs are part of an interdisciplinary department; COSMA accreditation is largely viewed as redundant; and, depending on business schools’ accreditation, variability exists concerning faculty performance measures and research impact, as well as faculty and alumni salaries. These findings suggest considerable progress of sport management programs within business schools.