COLUMBUS, Ohio – Americans have long believed that sports are one area in society that offers kids from all backgrounds the chance to succeed to the best of their abilities.
But new research suggests that this belief is largely a myth, and that success in high school and college athletics often is influenced by race and gender, as well as socioeconomic status, including family wealth and education.
"We often think about sports as level playing fields that reward people who earn their success, but that's not the whole story," said Chris Knoester , co-author of the studies and professor of sociology at The Ohio State University .
"Success depends a lot on the advantages young people have when they grow up."
These results may seem surprising to a lot of people, said Kirsten Hextrum , lead author of the research and assistant professor in the School of Language, Culture, and Society at Oregon State University.
"We want to counter the common notion that an individual person's ability, drive and interest are what lead to who becomes the best athletes in our society," Hextrum said.
"We found that high school and college sports are profoundly shaped by one's socioeconomic status and other factors unrelated to talent."
In two studies, Knoester, Hextrum and James Tompsett, a PhD graduate in sociology from Ohio State, analyzed data from a nationwide study of high school students in the 10th grade who were followed up with again in the 12th grade. Nearly 10,000 students from 800 different schools were studied in 2002 and 2004.
To complement these inquiries, Hextrum led analyses of in-depth interviews with 49 Black and white athletes at one college who were on rowing or track and field teams but who typically played multiple sports in high school.
One of the studies was published in October in the journal Leisure/Loisir . The second study was published recently in the Journal for the Study of Sports and Athletes in Education .
A comprehensive examination of the high school athletes showed how large an impact their family socioeconomic status (SES) had on their athletic participation and success.
While 70% of students from high SES families played a high school sport, only 43% of those from low SES families played.
Success also depended on family SES. Findings showed that while 27% of students from high SES families reported being a captain of a sports team, the rate was only 8% for those from low SES families.
Students from high SES families were also more likely to play multiple sports and persist in playing from 10th to 12th grade.
The research also found racial and ethnic differences in family SES and who attended wealthier schools, with white students being more privileged, Knoester said.
Boys were more likely to play sports in high school than girls and to play persistently, the study found.
How race shapes sports participation was a striking theme in the in-depth college athlete interviews that Hextrum led.
She found that Black athletes felt more comfortable in track and field than majority-white sports. Conversely, white athletes felt comfortable playing all types of sports, and did not believe their race influenced their athletic selections.
"Black participants were very explicit that they felt their race had routed them into track and field," she said.
One Black athlete that Hextrum interviewed ended up in track and field after trying sports that were dominated by white players.
"Malcolm described track and field as a sport where he could just breathe. It was a place where he felt he wasn't constantly being challenged or questioned about who he was," Hextrum said.
"Race was not a factor at all for white students in my study. They never felt they had to think about their race when they were making these athletic decisions."
As far as socioeconomic status, there are obvious ways that growing up in a high SES family helps young people get ahead in their sports, the researchers said. Parents with higher SES have the ability to pay for more sports for their kids, pay for specialized training and club sports outside of school, and live in neighborhoods with better fields and courts and other resources.
But another, more subtle, advantage is what the researchers called the "intensive parenting" that goes on in, and is enabled by, higher SES homes.
It starts at the very beginning, with parents introducing their young children to sports, and to specific sports. Hextrum said nearly every athlete in her study said their parents initiated their entry into sports.
"When you intensively parent, you have more resources to invest in your child's athletic future, and that's not just money. It is time, emotional investment and educational investment," Hextrum said.
For parents with high SES, intensive parenting means using their education and knowledge and leisure time and resources to constantly work on behalf of their children, Knoester added.
"These parents have the knowledge and comfort in figuring out systems and pathways to provide advantages for their children," he said.
"They can find the best coaches, help choose the sports that offer the best opportunities for their children, they can figure out the hidden rules and strategies that aren't available to everyone."
Knoester and Hextrum emphasized that advantaged parents aren't trying to harm others in advocating for their children. Instead, they are pursuing what they think is their family's own best interests, trying to provide the best possible situation for their own children as they grow up.
But the end result is that it perpetuates the inequalities already in society and makes it more difficult for others to maximize their athletic talents.
"We can't say that the only reason people from disadvantaged backgrounds aren't playing or having athletic success is because they don't care enough or aren't good enough or aren't working hard enough," Knoester said.
"Our research suggests that sports aren't always a meritocracy. Some people have built-in advantages outside of their athletic skills that will help them succeed."
