Research & Action Report, Fall/Winter 2007

In this issue: Women and Children: The Human Rights Relationship Adolescent Literacy and Achievement: Widening the Path to Success Is Literacy Enough? Squeeze Play: Why Title IX Is Not Enoughhttps://repository.wellesley.edu/researchandactionreport/1011/thumbnail.jp

Does Leadership on the Field Get You Noticed Off It?: The Value of Varsity Sports to Corporate Recruiters

An online correspondence study was conducted to explore whether professional recruiters screening candidates for entry-level corporate jobs would view leadership skills acquired through high level participation in amateur sports at the collegiate varsity level more favorably than those acquired through non-sports activities. The experimental manipulation randomly varied candidates’ athletic v. non-athletic leadership experience at university, their gender, and race. Eight hundred and twenty-eight corporate recruiters rated four potential candidate profiles on four of eight job-relevant leadership traits/skills they valued most when assessing a candidate and ranked the candidates for a callback interview. Varsity athletes were rated higher than non-athletes on the ability to work in a team and on being results-driven. However, recruiters rated athletes lower in critical thinking, follow-through on tasks, and organizational skills. Overall, athletes were no more likely than non-athlete candidates to be selected for a first interview. Results are interpreted in the context of signaling theory