An exploration of cross-cultural interactions among collegiate sport coaches and international student-athletes

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Katherine M. Wurst (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
Advisor
Diane Gill

Abstract: The purpose of the project was to understand collegiate sport coaches’ engagement in cross-cultural interactions with international student-athletes (ISAs). Horn’s working model of coaching effectiveness (2008) identifies cultural context as an antecedent that shapes values, expectancies, and behaviors exhibited by sport coaches. Sue’s multicultural competencies model (MCC) (1982, 1992) emphasizes the importance of awareness, knowledge, and skills used to enhance cross-cultural relationships in all service fields. Surveys and semi-structured interviews were used to gain a deeper understanding of cross-cultural interactions among coaches and ISAs. Results indicated that collegiate sport coaches rate their ability to interact with athletes of low socio-economic status as higher than other cultural groups, and feel most limited in their ability to serve transgender athletes. In terms of coach interactions with ISAs, about one-third reported limited competence when interacting with student-athletes that are recent immigrants, and/or use English as their second language. A majority express agreement on cultural competence being an essential component of sport coaching, but disagree somewhat on whether it should be included in coach certifications. Interviews with coaches reinforced these findings, and offered suggestions for how to integrate cultural competence into coach training and education.

Additional Information

Publication
Dissertation
Language: English
Date: 2018
Keywords
Collegiate Athletics, Cultural Competence, International, Multicultural, Sport Coaching, Student-Athletes
Subjects
College sports $x Coaching
Sports $x Sociological aspects
Cultural competence

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