Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Date

2026

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

Counselor Education and Supervision

Committee Chair

Taneshia Greenidge

Committee Chair

Eraina Schauss

Committee Member

Crystal White

Committee Member

Meg Evans

Abstract

Female college athletes navigate multi-faceted pressures at the intersection of gender, race, finances, and athletic identity. However, their lived experiences remain understudied. This qualitative study examined how feminine expression and Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) financial pressures intersected to impact the mental health of Division I female college athletes. Guided by a hermeneutic phenomenological framework and grounded in Brewer et al.’s (1993) Athletic Identity Theory and Crenshaw’s (1989) Intersectionality Theory, data was collected through semi-structured virtual interviews with eight participants representing a range of sports and racial backgrounds. The thematic analysis followed Braun and Clarke’s (2006) six-phase model which yielded six major themes and twenty-four sub-themes. The themes are Inner Facets of Femininity, Gendered Reality Check, Asserting Identity Through Aesthetic Choices, Laboring for Legitimacy, From Neglect to Recognition, and Intersectionality and Microaggressions. The findings reveal that participants experienced femininity not only as personal identity but as commercial currency within the NIL landscape, where aesthetic labor, institutional neglect, and racialized market valuation produced distinctive psychological burdens. This study introduces economic colorism and aesthetic surveillance as structural mechanisms not previously named within either theoretical framework. Implications for culturally competent counseling practice, NIL policy reform, and institutional accountability are discussed.

Comments

Data is provided by the student.

Library Comment

Dissertation or thesis originally submitted to ProQuest/Clarivate.

Notes

Open Access.

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