The “Dumb Jock” Effect

On college campuses around the country, the stigma and stereotypes associated with being a student-athlete mostly focus on academic performance and the inability to achieve at the level of a regular student in the classroom. If you’ve ever attended high school or college, you’ve probably heard the term “dumb jock” used in reference to an athlete, which describes their level of academic achievement based on the fact that they play a sport.  Although it’s obvious that this description could make a student athlete feel less intelligent, many people don’t recognize how this stereotype can actually affect classroom performance.

Are college athlete’s grades affected by stereotypes?

According to a Stanford researcher, they are. In an article written in March 2014, Thomas Lee articulates that “some student athletes suffer academically from the ‘dumb jock’ stereotype,” meaning the widespread use of demeaning language aimed at athletes actually directly affects their performance.  Although student-athletes must also meet academic requirements to be accepted into a University, many regular students perceive sports as an athletes’ “ticket” into school.  While major collegiate sports such as football and basketball have some wiggle room when it comes to getting players accepted, the fact that their intelligence is potentially not on par with others doesn’t affect their willingness to do well in classes.  It’s a common view that many athletes didn’t deserve admittance to a University based on their high school achievement, which reinforces their belief that “they’re only here because of sports.”

As someone who plays a major sport here at Penn State, non-athletes that identify and generalize athletes as “dumb jocks” are labeling a very diverse group of people. Stereotypes make many athletes feel like they don’t belong, which can be credited to a culture that throws athletes at a level below other students.  In fact, a generalization using the word “dumb” seems a bit unfair, especially coming from a non-athlete.  Time requirements and demands of sports gives student athletes less time to complete work and focus on their studies, while also battling physical exhaustion from morning workouts and 4 hour practices.  So potentially, classroom performance may not be the best determination of an athlete’s intelligence.

So what do other people say about this issue?

In a paper released in early 2015 by researchers at the University of California at Los Angeles and Princeton University, a diverse group of athletes was surveyed in order to identify their response to certain stereotypes. They found that the majority of college athletes actually do care about doing well academically, but take easier courses and study less to align with the “dumb jock” stigma.  In their research, they identified many existing “explanations” for underperformance from student athletes, which include time requirement of sport, special admission practices that enroll underprepared students, and lack of general motivation in class.  Furthermore, they discovered how toxic the “dumb jock” stereotype can be to athletes.  Based on the perception of student athlete academic performance, athletes don’t believe that their teammates care about academics (when most actually do) which causes the whole team to gravitate towards this mindset.

When it comes to my personal view on this topic, I think many athletes, particularly that play major revenue sports such as football and basketball, accept that it’s okay to underachieve in the classroom because that’s the expectation that other students have of them. People act way too surprised when an athlete has a 4.0, 3.9 or 3.8, which is unfortunately caused by how few athletes carry such a high GPA.  If it were possible to change the attitude of how athletes shouldn’t be expected to achieve at a higher level, maybe this change would be reflected in the grades that athletes receive.  It’s a culture embedded in campus life, which I notice on a daily basis.

When I walked into my first honors class, I’m sure people thought of me differently than the non-athletes to my left and right, simply based on the football tags that swing from my backpack. They probably doubted that I’d be able to handle the work load, and even may have questioned if my sport had helped me gain entry to the honors college.  All in all, it’s unfair to generalize such a large community of people as “dumb”, simply based on the fact that they double as competitors in their respective sports.

What are your thoughts on these stereotype and their affects?

 

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/02/18/athletes-take-easier-courses-fit-teammates-study-asserts

http://news.stanford.edu/news/2014/march/college-athlete-stereotype-032614.html

 

2 thoughts on “The “Dumb Jock” Effect”

  1. It’s very interesting topic. I’ve never heard of a “dumb jock” but as I was reading your post, I understood what it meant and felt the same as you did. I don’t play sports nor have interests in playing sports but I can feel the sense how serious this issue can be to athletes who play sports in university campus while studying at the same time. To be honest, I would guess that it would be a very difficult task to get a high GPA and do well in sports but I respect how much effort they put in to and I would never expect athletes to be “dumb” even if they do get low academic achievement because I can imagine how hard would it be to do all of those. I agree with you that it’s unfair to call them out to be dumb and expect them to do bad on courses. Very interesting topic!

  2. Finding a sports,Studies & social life balance can be a very difficult thing for student athletes.While i was a D3 college wrestler and asst coach for 20 years i dealt with this issue for years and i believe it is important for coaches to focus on finding that balance amongst the athletes they coach.At U Wisconsin La Crosse academics was something that most of the Head coaches embraced as to get a permanent head coaching position they had to have a Masters degree and many had their doctorate.Today my son is a stand out athlete and i can’t express to him how important his ability to get all his class work done at a high level is if he wants to be taken seriously by college football programs in the midwest as the ability to learn and be coached in complex systems can not be under emphasized.The leadership and team work skills athletes learn is underrated as it is a major skill to help them succeed in any career they undertake after college.The vast majority of the athletes i coached have done very well and lead happy productive lives but not every program has the same expectations from their kids and wrestling is such a work centric endeavor that the grind of the sport tends to develop that that all important work ethic that so many midwestern folks pride themselves in which in and of itself helps them attain good outcomes in any career they pursue.

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