Honors Theses
Date of Award
2015
Document Type
Undergraduate Thesis
Department
Public Policy Leadership
First Advisor
Melissa Bass
Relational Format
Dissertation/Thesis
Abstract
My research is comprised of data collected from surveys and interviews to gain a better understanding of how college athletes, especially those from low-income backgrounds, perceive their past experience with reading. I surveyed ninety-three freshmen male athletes. I then narrowed my research to focus specifically on male freshmen athletes from all sports and football players of all years, since football has the highest percentage of athletes from low-income backgrounds. I then interviewed six student athletes on the football team. I found that whether or not a student athlete is read to as a child, enjoyed reading as a child, and continued to read and perform well throughout high school affect how they perceive their ability to read at a college level. This is evident especially when looking at the difference between low income and non low-income student athletes, freshmen football players and non-football players, and low income and non low-income football players. The lower income students are read to less, enjoy reading less, perform worse in high school-- despite how much they read-- and in turn, are more likely to feel like they are not reading at a college level than their more affluent peers.
Recommended Citation
Suggs, Anna Kathryn, "I don't need to read, I'm gonna play football: Male Collegiate Athletes' Perception of Reading" (2015). Honors Theses. 84.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/hon_thesis/84
Accessibility Status
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