More girls are playing sports than ever before—which, on the surface, is great for girls because sports offer positive and empowering fun for young women. In reality, though, few young athletes report “fun” as a reason they play sports. The rates of concussions and repetitive use injuries are on the rise, and kids are encouraged to specialize in a single sport at earlier and earlier ages, spending much of their free time throughout the year dedicated to the pursuit of a single sport at the expense of friends, other activities, and sometimes, health. Alarmed by the stories he heard from young athletes in his classes, sports scholar Rick Eckstein set out to investigate youth sports—why young people are playing them, how they have changed over time, and their impact on kids and families. Through three years of extensive research, including surveys, interviews, and more, Eckstein discovered that college athletics are having an alarming impact on youth sports, particularly for girls. How College Athletics Are Hurting Girls' Sports looks closely at college sports and how they shape the athletic—and personal—landscape for girls and young women. Filled with powerful interview excerpts from women athletes of all ages, as well as coaches, league officials, and others, the book chronicles how college and youth sports have become more commercialized, to the detriment of participants. The book looks at a range of sports, with case studies including soccer, field hockey, ice hockey, figure skating, and Ultimate Frisbee. The author celebrates sports’ potential to have a positive impact on a girl’s life, but he recommends changes in how college and youth athletics are structured to improve the experience of young athletes and to give them their childhood back.

Featuring a new preface by the author, this book looks closely at college sports and how they shape the athletic and personal landscape for girls and young women. Filled with interviews from female athletes of all ages, this book chronicles how college and youth sports have become more corporate, to the detriment of participants.

“Brings to the new field of university ethics the case of the Catholic Colleges and Universities. . . . [A] compelling plea to make mission drive the model.” —James F. Keenan, S.J., author of University Ethics: How Colleges Can Build and Benefit from a Culture of Ethics Gerald J. Beyer’s Just Universities discusses ways that U.S. Catholic institutions of higher education have embodied or failed to embody Catholic social teaching in their campus policies and practices. Beyer argues that the corporatization of the university has infected U.S. higher education with hyper-individualistic models and practices that hinder the ability of Catholic institutions to create an environment imbued with bedrock values and principles of Catholic Social Teaching such as respect for human rights, solidarity, and justice. Beyer problematizes corporatized higher education and shows how it has adversely affected efforts at Catholic schools to promote worker justice on campus; equitable admissions; financial aid; retention policies; diversity and inclusion policies that treat people of color, women, and LGBTQ persons as full community members; just investment; and stewardship of resources and the environment. “[C]ompelling...inspirational in its call to action.---Adrianna Kezar, Wilbur Kieffer Endowed Professor and Dean's Professor of Leadership, University of Southern California, Director of the Pullias Center (pullias.usc.edu), and Director of the Delphi Project “A remarkable analysis. . . . Higher education should be most grateful for Beyer’s contribution.” —James A. Donahue, President of St. Mary’s College of California [A] pioneering, much-needed book. . . . essential reading for anyone interested in university ethics and religious higher education.” ―Anglican Theological Review “Sure to become a seminal text for future research and discussions on this topic. . . . Highly Recommended.” —Choice

Special Admission contradicts the national belief that college sports provide an avenue for upward mobility. Kirsten Hextrum reveals the dynamic relationship between the state, elite groups, private entities, educational institutions, and athletic organizations that concentrate opportunities in white suburban communities. Thus, college sports allow white, middle-class athletes to accelerate their advantages through admission to elite universities.

Investigation of a professional women's soccer league breaking through the ceiling of the male-dominated center of US professional sport. The author examines the challenges and opportunities and demonstrates how gender inequality is both constructed and disputed in professional sport.

Written by a former Olympic consultant, this book examines youth sports in America today, from institutions that dominate organized youth sports to high-profile controversies ranging from burnout and out-of-control parents to the health risks of youth football. As organized youth sports occupy an ever-greater role in the lives of American families, critics have begun to question whether some programs and participants have lost their way. This timely book examines the state of youth sports in America today, analyzing how organized sports influence communities, discussing the potential emotional and physical benefits as well as drawbacks of youth sports, and profiling the industry's key participants, ranging from parent coaches to club sports owners to personal trainers. The work begins with a look at the evolution of youth sports in the United States, then explores such topics as burnout, self-discipline, performance-enhancing drugs, parental violence, and scholarships. The content includes coverage of 20 individual youth sports, such as basketball, softball, lacrosse, baseball, volleyball, football, soccer, cross-country, and swimming, and provides breakdowns of historical and current participation rates, injury rates, and sport-specific scholarship trends. Each summary includes contact information on important organizations specific to that sport.

This book addresses an important topic in higher education: credential fraud. This includes, but is not limited to, fake degrees, diploma mills, admissions fraud, and cheating on standardized admissions tests. The book directly addresses fake and fraudulent credentials in higher education. It explores transcript tampering and fraud in varsity athletics and discusses lazy practices in the higher education hiring processes that open the door for professors without proper credentials to get jobs in post-secondary institutions. The book also discusses how technology is being used to stop the proliferation of fake and fraudulent credentials in a variety of ways, including blockchain technology.

Fifty years after the passage of Title IX, the institutions that govern college sports undermine initiatives for advancing gender equality. Sex-based segregation, androcentric organizational cultures, and overbearing market incentives prevent policy change. These institutional barriers can sideline any marginalized group from achieving equality.

A close look at how big money and high stakes have transformed youth sports, turning once healthy, fun activities for kids into all-consuming endeavors—putting stress on children and families alike Some 75% of American families want their kids to play sports. Athletics are training grounds for character, friendship, and connection; at their best, sports insulate kids from hardship and prepare them for adult life. But youth sports have changed so dramatically over the last 25 years that they no longer deliver the healthy outcomes everyone wants. Instead, unbeknownst to most parents, kids who play competitive organized sports are more likely to burn out or suffer from overuse injuries than to develop their characters or build healthy habits. What happened to kids' sports? And how can we make them fun again? In Take Back the Game, coach and journalist Linda Flanagan reveals how the youth sports industry capitalizes on parents’ worry about their kids’ futures, selling the idea that more competitive play is essential in the feeding frenzy over access to colleges and universities. Drawing on her experience as a coach and a parent, along with research and expert analysis, Flanagan delves into a national obsession that has: Compelled kids to specialize year-round in one sport. Increased the risk of both physical injury and mental health problems. Encouraged egregious behavior by coaches and parents. Reduced access to sports for low-income families. A provocative and timely entrant into a conversation thousands of parents are having on the sidelines, Take Back the Game uncovers how youth sports became a serious business, the consequences of raising the stakes for kids and parents alike--and the changes we need now.

Intersectional scholarship represents a significant cornerstone to the study of the social inequality. This book makes visible the contribution of social scientists to intersectional research, analysis, and praxis in a diverse sampling of scholarship from across the sociological spectrum highlighting various quantitative and qualitative methodologies. The contributions to this volume show how multiple dimensions of identity intersect with dimensions of power and privilege to shape the opportunities and obstacles that people encounter in their day to day lives. Utilizing a variety of quantitative and qualitative methods, scholars included in this book center: Methods of intersectional research Marginalized faculty’s experiences in the neoliberal university Victim characteristics of transgender Americans The effect of immigration and gender status on PhD engineers’ earnings How social capital access is shaped by race and gender status Latinas’ experiences in sports Trans men’s pathways to incarceration Intersectional scholarship holds significant importance in providing a nuanced understanding of oppression and power dynamics as well as functioning as critical praxis for doing social justice work. This insightful volume will be useful for scholarly readers and researchers in the subject areas of sociology, gender and sexualities studies, race and ethnicity, feminist pedagogy, and criminology. The chapters in this book were originally published in the journal Sociological Spectrum.