Sadly, Dumb Jocks Might Still Actually Be Dumb
The Spanish Olympic men's basketball team making their eyes slanted during a team photo before the games: Dumb. (photo from NPR.org)
A week ago at Huffington Post, Myles Brand wrote an article titled “The ‘Dumb Jock’ Myth is Dumb.” The article focuses on the dumb jock stereotype as it pertains to D-I college athletics:
Student-athletes in Division I — where the dumb jock myth is most firmly attached — graduate on average at a higher rate than the general student body, according to data gathered by the federal government. Student-athletes graduate at a rate of 63 percent, one point better than all other students. Given that more than 100,000 student-athletes participate in Division I, the differences in federal rates are statistically significant.
While I was a dumb jock myself (Division III sadly, so my graduation means nothing in the context of this article), I don’t take any gratification from the article. I don’t think it disproves the stereotype at all. I’m not even sure the stats are meaningful.