THE COLLEGE LIFE EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN WOMEN ATHLETES

The present study provides a descriptive analysis of four areas of Afr ican American women student athletes' college life experiences: academ ic performance; alienation and abuse; perceived social advantage as th e result of athletics; and life satisfaction. Multivariate comparisons were made between the four areas of college life experiences of 154 A frican American women student athletes and 793 White women student ath letes, 250 African American women nonathletes, and 628 African America n men student athletes from a national sample of 39 NCAA Division I un iversities. Overall, African American women student athletes are perfo rming adequately academically, integrating socially within the univers ity, perceiving some social advantage as the result of being athletes, and are fairly satisfied with their life. Their experiences seem most consistent with African American women nonathletes. Results are discu ssed in the context of potential policy recommendations as well as the need for more research on this particular population.