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Keywords

critical internationalization, international college athletes, Black international students, college athletics, global sport migration

Special Issue

Emerging Scholar Research Summary

Abstract

College sports in the United States have become a key site for internationalization in higher education, with international college athletes (ICAs) comprising 13% of Division I athletes (NCAA, 2023). While ICAs pursue degrees, compete at elite levels, and navigate F-1 visa requirements, their experiences remain underexamined in international education scholarship. This omission is especially stark for Black ICAs, whose stories are often collapsed into either generalized international student scholarship or studies of Black U.S. athletes.

This dissertation addresses this gap by examining the experiences of Black NCAA Division I ICAs through the lens of Migration Infrastructure Theory and Black Diasporic Illumination (BDI) Framework. Together, these lenses illuminate how institutional actors, policies, and networks shape mobility and how Black diasporic students navigate intersecting systems of race, identity, and opportunity within U.S. higher education Using narrative inquiry and Critical Podcasting Methodology (CPM), the study deliberately centers their lived stories, revealing how race and migration intersect to influence belonging, opportunity, and career readiness. Findings will yield critical scholarship on internationalization and college sport, offering insights for more equitable institutional policies, practices, and programming.

Abstract - Translated

Los deportes universitarios en los Estados Unidos se han convertido en un ámbito clave de la internacionalización en la educación superior, y los atletas universitarios internacionales (International College Athletes, ICAs) representan el 13% de los atletas de la División I (NCAA, 2023). Si bien los ICAs cursan estudios universitarios, compiten al más alto nivel y deben cumplir con los requisitos del visado F-1, sus experiencias siguen estando insuficientemente examinadas en la literatura académica sobre educación internacional. Esta omisión es especialmente marcada en el caso de los ICAs negros, cuyas historias suelen quedar reducidas a investigaciones generales sobre estudiantes internacionales o a estudios centrados en atletas afroestadounidenses.

Esta disertación aborda esta brecha al examinar las experiencias de los ICAs negros de la División I de la NCAA a través del lente de la Teoría de la Infraestructura Migratoria y del Marco de Iluminación Diaspórica Negra (Black Diasporic Illumination, BDI). En conjunto, estos enfoques permiten comprender cómo los actores institucionales, las políticas y las redes configuran la movilidad, y cómo los estudiantes negros de la diáspora transitan sistemas interseccionados de raza, identidad y oportunidades dentro de la educación superior estadounidense. A partir de la indagación narrativa y de la Metodología de Podcasting Crítico (Critical Podcasting Methodology, CPM), el estudio centra deliberadamente y amplifica sus relatos vividos, mostrando cómo la raza y la migración se entrecruzan para influir en el sentido de pertenencia, las oportunidades y la preparación para la carrera profesional. Los hallazgos aportarán conocimiento crítico sobre la internacionalización y el deporte universitario, y ofrecerán orientaciones para el diseño de políticas, prácticas y programas institucionales más equitativos.

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