Date of Award
2018
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education (EdD)
Committee Chair
Stephen Laws
Abstract
High schools were being held accountable for not properly preparing students for college or the workforce. Preparation for high school students is not limited to their academic experiences but rather soft skills gained through involvement with extracurricular activities. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of cheerleading on the qualities needed for college and career preparation. This study analyzed the responses of former cheerleaders from a rural high school in North Carolina. This qualitative study utilized a descriptive survey that included O’Neil, Lee, Wang, Mulkey’s (1999) Teamwork Questionnaire followed by two focus groups. Overall, the researcher concluded through the data analysis that cheerleading had an impact on career and college readiness after high school. The researcher identified leadership, interpersonal, and teamwork soft skills as themes cheerleaders felt they obtained through their participation in cheerleading. The researcher found that survey findings from this research supported previous literature that soft skills enhanced through participation in cheerleading are applicable for postsecondary experiences such as college and the workplace.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Citation Information
Baldwin, Rikki, "Impact of Cheerleading on Postsecondary Career and College Readiness in a Rural Community" (2018). Education Dissertations and Projects. 303.
https://digitalcommons.gardner-webb.edu/education_etd/303