An Examination of the Relationships Among Socioeconomic Status, Learning Disabilities, Academic Competence, and Social Fluency for Division I Student-Athletes

Abstract

This study investigated the social skills and academic abilities of Division I student- athletes. The relationship between socioeconomic status, learning disabilities, academic competence, and social skills was examined. The participants included 21,916 first-time full- time freshman student-athletes from 4-year NCAA institutions. The Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) Freshman Survey (2008) was the primary instrument used to collect data. The method of analysis consisted of several one-way ANOVAs. The results of this study indicate that student-athletes from lower socioeconomic backgrounds have statistically significantly lower academic and social skills than student-athletes from higher socioeconomic backgrounds. The results also indicate that student-athletes with learning disabilities have statistically significantly lower academic and social skills than student-athletes without learning disabilities. The implications of this study suggest that the NCAA and collegiate institutions must provide adequate academic, athletic, and social support to student-athletes from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds as well as those with learning disabilities.