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

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Apr 21st, 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.