Anne E. Funke, a 2024 graduate of the EdD in Educational and Professional Practices at Antioch University, has written and published her dissertation titled Are They Well? Examining Emotional Intelligence Competencies of Female College Athletes.
College students are suffering from a collective brain health crisis in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, and students’ social and emotional needs and skills have continued to steadily decline. Colleges have a responsibility to prioritize the social-emotional health of all students above performance and achievement. Student-athletes, in particular, face unique challenges and pressures that non-athlete students do not, such as managing time commitments of athletic schedules and coursework, navigating publicity and increased attention, and facing pressure to perform well in sports and academics are just a few of these unique challenges.
Female athletes have historically been overlooked compared to male athletes, including the lack of scholarships that examine the intersection of being a student, an athlete, and a female. There’s a limited supply of studies that focus on Division III institutions, female athletes, or how emotional intelligence helps to identify factors that contribute to well-being and success both in and outside the sporting arena. Funke explored the emotional intelligence competencies of 19 female student-athletes at one Division III institution; her central questions were as follows: What trends are observable in the emotional intelligence competencies of Division III female college athletes? What do their emotional intelligence competencies reveal about their Well-being success factor specifically? How can college campuses continue or improve the provision of support for female collegiate athletes?
Funke listened to students’ voices using an explanatory mixed methods approach to gather both quantitative and qualitative data to explore well-being and emotional intelligence. Funke’s theoretical foundation is grounded in the Six Seconds Emotional-Intelligence-in-Action framework and influenced by Ryan and Deci’s Self-Determination Theory. Funke’s implications of this study are threefold: leveraging emotional intelligence as a learnable strategy for measuring and improving well-being, building a more comprehensive understanding of the female collegiate athlete experience, and ultimately, offering ways in which campuses can more effectively meet their needs.
Funke has over a decade in higher education that has included career advising, teaching courses focused on vocation, developing purpose, and emotional intelligence, as well as wellness through the practices of yoga and mindfulness. She currently serves as a faculty member and the Director of World View Studies at the University of Dubuque as a passionate advocate for brain health and emotional intelligence, particularly in college student populations, as well as the practices of mindfulness as a modality of well-being.
Read and download Funke’s dissertation, Are They Well? Examining Emotional Intelligence Competencies of Female College Athletes.