SWORD - South West Open Research Deposit - International Symposium of Adapted Physical Activity and International Symposium on Physical Activity and Visual Impairment and Deafblindness: The Influence of an Inter-University Collaborative on the Socialization of Adapted Physical Activity Doctoral Students
 

Start Date

19-6-2025 10:30 AM

End Date

19-6-2025 12:00 PM

Abstract

Introduction There’s a critical need for adapted physical activity (APA) faculty to train teachers to support students with disabilities (Haegele et al., 2020). Little is known about the socialization of APA faculty (Richards & Wilson, 2020). Grounded in Occupational Socialization Theory (Wilson & Richards, 2020), we investigated the role of an inter-university APA collaborative in the socialization of doctoral students in alignment with the “creating new opportunities to thrive” strand through APA capacity building in higher education.

Methodology Twenty-eight doctoral students participated in semi-structured interviews, collaborative meetings, and critical incident discussions in this longitudinal qualitative study.

Results Through qualitative analysis, we constructed three themes: a) “It’s given me a network and a pool of people I can connect with”: The collaborative promotes collaboration and mentoring across institutions. For most, the collaborative created a network that fostered scholarly conversation, made faculty approachable, and reduced anxiety from imposter syndrome. Not all scholars felt it lived up to its potential while noting instances of social comparison; b) “Well the option’s here now, it’s meant to be”: The collaborative provided unique opportunities and helped mitigate challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Funding through the collaborative made entry into doctoral programs more feasible; and c) “The meetings have continued to improve as they’ve refined them”: Mentors were responsive to feedback and modified collaborative activities according to scholar needs.

Conclusions Federally funded opportunities like this inter-university APA collaborative appear to be an important socializing influence for students and a means to building capacity in APA.

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Jun 19th, 10:30 AM Jun 19th, 12:00 PM

The Influence of an Inter-University Collaborative on the Socialization of Adapted Physical Activity Doctoral Students

Introduction There’s a critical need for adapted physical activity (APA) faculty to train teachers to support students with disabilities (Haegele et al., 2020). Little is known about the socialization of APA faculty (Richards & Wilson, 2020). Grounded in Occupational Socialization Theory (Wilson & Richards, 2020), we investigated the role of an inter-university APA collaborative in the socialization of doctoral students in alignment with the “creating new opportunities to thrive” strand through APA capacity building in higher education.

Methodology Twenty-eight doctoral students participated in semi-structured interviews, collaborative meetings, and critical incident discussions in this longitudinal qualitative study.

Results Through qualitative analysis, we constructed three themes: a) “It’s given me a network and a pool of people I can connect with”: The collaborative promotes collaboration and mentoring across institutions. For most, the collaborative created a network that fostered scholarly conversation, made faculty approachable, and reduced anxiety from imposter syndrome. Not all scholars felt it lived up to its potential while noting instances of social comparison; b) “Well the option’s here now, it’s meant to be”: The collaborative provided unique opportunities and helped mitigate challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Funding through the collaborative made entry into doctoral programs more feasible; and c) “The meetings have continued to improve as they’ve refined them”: Mentors were responsive to feedback and modified collaborative activities according to scholar needs.

Conclusions Federally funded opportunities like this inter-university APA collaborative appear to be an important socializing influence for students and a means to building capacity in APA.