An Even Playing Field? : Patterns of Differentiation in the Biographical Backgrounds of American College Athletes

Abstract: The internationally unique position of sports in the American higher education system raisesquestions about the impact of sports on patterns of social stratification in education. The presentthesis explores dynamics of social differentiation among American college athletes based on theirhigh school and hometown background. Data on more than 250,000 student athletes active incompetitive college sports in the Divisions I and II of the National Collegiate Athletic Associationin the season 2019/2020 was assembled and analyzed through geometric data analysis. Multiplecorrespondence analysis and principal component analysis was used to construct a social spaceof college athletes and college sports teams. The results indicate a significant differentiationbetween student athletes in terms of the characteristics of their high schools and hometowns. Theposition of student athletes in the space of college sports seems to be somewhat related to anathlete’s socioeconomic background, in so far that student athletes from different biographicalbackgrounds differ in their tendencies to play certain sports and to attend prestigious universities.The findings of this thesis thus reveal that educational recruitment through sports exhibitsdynamics of social stratification similar to academic selection.