Sport Management Majors’ Perceived Motivators and Barriers to Participation in a College-sponsored International Experience
Poster Number
26
College
College of Education
Department
Physical Education, Sport & Human Performance
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to determine the perceived motivators and barriers of sport management majors to participate in a college-sponsored study-abroad experience. An online survey was administered to 180 undergraduate and graduate sport management students from across the United States. Results indicated that the top motivators were: 1) overall life experience, 2) the opportunity to live in another country or culture, and 3) resume building, while the top barriers were: 1) finances, 2) missing social time and events on campus, and 3) lack of knowledge about opportunities – relatively consistent with both open-response and rank-order question types. Not highlighted in previous research, open-response questions revealed that “meeting new people and having fun” (6.7%) and “uncomfortable being away from home” (19.4%) were mentioned as a top motivator and barrier, respectively. Most notably, only five (2.8%) of the sport management sample students had previously studied abroad. Implications of these findings will be discussed, focusing on recommendations to increase participation in college-sponsored international experiences for sport management students.
Honors Thesis Committee
Seth Jenny, Ph.D.; Jinwook Chung, Ph.D.; and Scot Rademaker, Ph.D.
Start Date
21-4-2017 2:15 PM
Sport Management Majors’ Perceived Motivators and Barriers to Participation in a College-sponsored International Experience
Richardson Ballroom
The purpose of this study was to determine the perceived motivators and barriers of sport management majors to participate in a college-sponsored study-abroad experience. An online survey was administered to 180 undergraduate and graduate sport management students from across the United States. Results indicated that the top motivators were: 1) overall life experience, 2) the opportunity to live in another country or culture, and 3) resume building, while the top barriers were: 1) finances, 2) missing social time and events on campus, and 3) lack of knowledge about opportunities – relatively consistent with both open-response and rank-order question types. Not highlighted in previous research, open-response questions revealed that “meeting new people and having fun” (6.7%) and “uncomfortable being away from home” (19.4%) were mentioned as a top motivator and barrier, respectively. Most notably, only five (2.8%) of the sport management sample students had previously studied abroad. Implications of these findings will be discussed, focusing on recommendations to increase participation in college-sponsored international experiences for sport management students.
