A Comparison of Career- Related Development between Student- Athletes and NonStudent-Athletes

Abstract

Recent research has been conducted studying different forms of identity, in this case, career identity and athletic identity. Previous studies found lower levels of career exploration within college student-athletes (those who scored high in athletic identity). The current study builds upon this idea, testing if college student- athletes have lower levels of career development compared to non-student- athletes. A sample of athletes and non-athletes participated in surveys testing these two forms of identity. We found no differences between the groups regarding career development. This trend continued when comparing upperclassmen student- athletes to underclassmen athletes and non-athletes.