Nicole Sellars

First Advisor

Morse, Alan

Document Type

Dissertation

Date Created

8-2021

Department

College of Natural and Health Sciences, Kinesiology Nutrition and Dietetics, KiND Student Work

Abstract

Utilizing Social Cognitive Career Theory (Lent et al., 1994) this research aimed to determine perception differences related to sport and leisure management employment for undergraduate students in related degree programs with a specific focus on the minority groups of women and People of Color (POC). Given the lack of diversity in sport and leisure enrollment and employment (Adriaanse, 2016; Massengale & Lough, 2013; Shropshire, 2004; Vianden & Gregg, 2017), this research sought to explore whether gender and/or race were predictors of feelings of self-efficacy, outcome expectations, barriers, and supports. An electronic survey was distributed to sport and leisure management undergraduate students through faculty contacts at three universities in the United States. A total of 101 participants offered complete responses to 40 items, resulting in 12 composite variables of concern to this research. A series of variance analyses (i.e., MANOVA, MANCOVA, ANOVA) were performed to assess differences in perceptions between four groups of undergraduate students: White males, White females, male People of Color, and female People of Color. Results showed significant differences on perceptions of employment-related barriers for minority groups (i.e., White females, male POC, female POC), who perceived more vocational related barriers than White male students at statistically significant rates. Results also indicated significant differences in perceptions of outcome expectations between White females and male POC. Finally, this research explored the influence of prior work experience in sport and leisure as a predictor of feelings of self-efficacy and perceptions of support, finding that students with more work experience had higher feelings of self-efficacy and perceived more employment-related supports. Practical implications for improving undergraduate employment preparedness are presented as well a possible future directions for continued research in sport and leisure management career development.

Extent

130 pages

Rights Statement

Copyright is held by the author.

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