Abstract
Given the increasing recruitment of International Student Athletes (ISAs) in the US, this study investigated high-performance international athletes’ career transitions in Southeastern Conference (SEC) schools. Utilizing Cultural Intelligence (CQ) theory, which explains a person’s capability for performing well in culturally diverse environments (Fang et al., 2018), this study specifically examined how the four CQ elements (metacognition, cognition, motivation, and behavior) impacted ISA’s transitions. Using criterion-based sampling and snowball sampling, a total of 14 ISAs (five females and nine males) were interviewed. The four CQ elements were utilized as protocol coding for analyzing the interview manuscripts (Saldaña, 2016). Facing new/different cultural systems, these four CQ elements explained how the SEC ISAs perceived (metacognition CQ), learned (cognition CQ), interacted (behavior CQ), and encouraged (motivation CQ) themselves during their transitions. An interview study with 14 ISAs revealed that previous international experiences, self-awareness, athletic team culture, trustworthy relationships with coaches, career support from campus/athletic departments, and access to resources were salient themes. Understanding SEC ISAs’ CQ and transitional experiences can help future college athletes better prepare to enter, perform and live well in this dynamic, globalized college sports’ system and will assist college athletic coaches and administrators recruiting ISAs to their campuses.
Recommended Citation
Yeh, Tsu-Lin; Nagel, Mark S.; Anders, Allison; and Shapiro, Stephen
(2025)
"High Performance International Student-Athletes’ (ISAs’) Career Experience: Cultural Intelligence (CQ) and Transition to SEC Schools,"
Journal of Athlete Development and Experience: Vol. 7:
Iss.
1, Article 4.
Available at:
https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/jade/vol7/iss1/4
JADE_Research
