The Game of Life: College Sports and Educational Values
Shulman and Bowen (respectively, coauthor of and collaborator on The Shape of the River: Long-Term Consequences of Considering Race in College and University Admissions) examine the relationship between college athletics and later achievement among male and female student athletes at 30 colleges and universities in this well-researched, impressively broad and thorough study. The schools are all academically selective, but compete athletically at widely varying levels, ranging from division 1A powerhouses to small conferences of liberal arts and women's colleges. Using the same database they created for their previous book, Shulman and Bowen look at college athletes who enrolled in 1951 ("thought of by some as `the good old days' "), 1976 (after enrollment compositions changed because of the civil rights movement and increases in coeducation) and 1989 (the most recent year for which they could collect data tracing the students' college years through their early careers), identifying trends, noting changes and examining differences in the college and post-college experiences of male and female athletes. The authors identify a set of character traits common to most athletes no matter what sport they play, and present a great deal of data countering conventional myths about college sports. Additionally, Shulman and Bowen offer suggestions about how college athletics could be better run. The book presents a lot of interesting data that contradicts the conventional myths about college sports. (Athletes graduate at a higher rate than students at large; even at the big-time programs, college sports are likely to lose money for their schools.) Anyone connected to college athletics--from coaches and admissions officials to trustees--will find much of interest here. (Feb.)Forecast: Despite its textbook-like style and overwhelming detail, this volume is bound to reach large audiences, as it's been the subject of articles in the New Yorker and the New York Times, and featured on NPR.Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.