*Note that the Indigenous Engagement Program was previously called the Front Runner Project, but we are no longer using the latter name.
Introduction and Context
Equity, diversity, and inclusion efforts are becoming commonplace among sport organizations. It is not uncommon, however, for efforts to be superficial and short-term. This project aimed to examine the learning outcomes among U Sport student-athletes of a strength-based cultural inclusion course. We examined students’ perceptions of cultural inclusion pre- and post-course to better understand the meanings they made of inclusion efforts.
Methods
We applied a narrative inquiry approach to secondary data (i.e., class assignments) administered at the start and end of the course (held in the fall 2023 term). Several U Sports athletes had enrolled in the course, and the focus of this project was on their assignments specifically.
Key Findings and Implications
There was some indication that students’ perceptions regarding cultural inclusion changed from inclusion for the sake of being nice to inclusion for the sake of bettering sport environments. However, the project yet needs to be finalized, so final conclusions cannot be drawn at this time.
Strengths and Limitations
It is not apparent whether or not changes in perceptions will result in action among athletes in terms of making their sport settings more inclusive. In other words, we are unable to make conclusions regarding the impact or meaning of the course.
Conclusions and Next Steps
It appears that a strength-based cultural inclusion course has potential to nurture among athletes a strength-based view of cultural inclusion, but we cannot draw hard conclusions at this time because we are still finalizing the project.