University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Examining perceptions of leadership and the student-athlete experience

Simms, Jake

This item is only available for download by members of the University of Illinois community. Students, faculty, and staff at the U of I may log in with your NetID and password to view the item. If you are trying to access an Illinois-restricted dissertation or thesis, you can request a copy through your library's Inter-Library Loan office or purchase a copy directly from ProQuest.

Permalink

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/122112

Description

Title
Examining perceptions of leadership and the student-athlete experience
Author(s)
Simms, Jake
Issue Date
2023-11-17
Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)
Richards, Kevin Andrew
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Liechty, Toni
Committee Member(s)
  • Fredericks, Jacob
  • Swanson, Steve
Department of Study
Recreation, Sport and Tourism
Discipline
Recreation, Sport, and Tourism
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
  • Leadership
  • Sport Leadership
  • Intercollegiate Sport
  • Implicit Leadership Theories
  • Social Construction of Leadership
Abstract
Leadership research has long stemmed from a leader-centric perspective with a focus on individual leaders (Fairhurst & Grant, 2010). Scholars have suggested a need for in-depth examinations of leadership using an observer-centric, social constructionist perspective that can provide new and insightful viewpoints to the conceptualization of leadership in sport management (Billsberry et al., 2018). This dissertation used the social construction of leadership to examine student-athletes at an NCAA Division I institution’s perceptions of leadership. The purpose of this dissertation was to examine the experiences of NCAA Division I student-athletes at a single university to understand how they perceive and conceptualize leaders and leadership. A phenomenological (Patton, 2015) approach was employed for 43 semi-structured interviews with a diverse range of student-athletes to gain an in-depth understanding of how they conceptualize leadership, what they seek from leaders, and how they determine whether a leader is successful. Data analysis was done using a collaborative approach to qualitative analysis (Richards & Hemphill, 2018). Peer debriefing (Lincoln & Guba, 1985), researcher triangulation (Olsen et al., 2016), and maintaining a researcher journal (Miles et al., 2015) were done to enhance trustworthiness. Findings of the study have been presented as three unique manuscripts that collectively describe the perceptions and experiences of the participants. Theoretical and practical implications, and future research directions are discussed in each manuscript, and synthesized in the conclusion chapter.
Graduation Semester
2023-12
Type of Resource
Thesis
Copyright and License Information
Copyright 2023 Jake Simms

Owning Collections

Graduate Dissertations and Theses at Illinois PRIMARY
Graduate Theses and Dissertations at Illinois