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Darrenmond Chao

UWRT 1103

11 Oct. 2019

Word Count 696

Inquiry Synthesis

The uncertain relationship between extracurricular activities and academic performance

has been extensively researched. From the articles I’ve summarized, there exists two sides to the

argument of whether or not extracurricular activities benefit students academic performances.

Scientific studies based on this topic exist to measure the impact that these activities have on

how students perform academically. Some authors believe that the benefits from engagement in

sports and student organizations transcend beyond cognition. They increase the positivity of a

students perceived employability through teaching them leadership, collaboration, and critical

thinking skills . Whereas, researchers say the difference it makes is negligible and that the true

impact is hard to measure definitively. They instead believe that, campuses must accommodate

for student needs and provide them with appropriate structures designed to deepen community

engagement. These researches do agree however, that extracurricular activities teach personal

skills such as the ones listed above (leadership, collaboration, etc).

While engagement won’t explicitly make students smarter, authors believe the

participation in activities like student organizations teach students personal skills such as

communication and leadership. These are the skills that employers in today’s society are looking

for. Dr. Julene Ensign, an assistant professor at Truman State University, claims that many of

today’s students lack the skills needed for critical thinking. She believes this can be mended with
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campus activities such as athletics and student organizations. These activities play a supportive

role in persistence and academic success. In agreement with Dr. Ensign, Dr. Hiram Fitzgerald, a

distinguished professor at Michigan State University, claims that the college experience plays a

key role in enabling students to chart unique pathways in achieving personal growth. Both

authors see the benefits that campus engagement has to offer. Other authors that agree with

Ensign and Fitzgerald include Robyn Barnacle, Susan R. Komives, and more. Of these authors is

Dr. Matthew Wawrzynski, a professor of higher, adult, and lifelong education in the fields of

non-cognitive measures and the collegiate environment with college student outcomes. He

wanted to explore this topic in countries with higher education structures that are presently being

developed and evolved. Wawrzynski believes it is important to examine the barriers and

academic outcomes of students because a majority of the time is spent outside of the classroom

in higher education. He conducted research experiments in South Africa for almost 5 years at the

time of his publication, and the results showed that students reported positive benefits of

involvement. It seems to be a general consensus amongst these authors that, not only do

extracurricular activities enhance the academic performance of students, they also increase the

positive perception of their employability by employers.

In contrast to these authors, Dr. Ann Brown, a visiting senior lecturer in information

management at the Cass Business School, concludes in her research article (written alongside Dr.

Clive Holtham and Dr. Martin Rich), that there is no direct correlation between improved

academic performance and student participation in academic activities. These authors agree with

the others that the needs of employers are rapidly changing and that colleges are no longer

looking for cookie cutter graduates. But the reason why they claim there is no correlation is

because the results of their research did not show any signs of change between students who did
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and did not participate in sports, clubs, or other student organizations. They did, however,

discover that other student characteristics (learning styles, personality types, education and

background) exert little influence on student performance. This theory aligns with the results of

Dr. Marshall Welch and John Saltmarsh’s research. Welch is a scholar practitioner with 30 years

of experience in higher education. Saltmarsh is a professor at the University of Massachusetts,

Boston, and an author who’s publications mainly focus on community engaged teaching,

learning and research, and organizational change in higher education.

Of these authors, it seems that there is yet to be substantial research that shows a direct

correlation between improved academic performance and participation in extracurricular

activities. The relationship lies with how these activities help prepare students for better job

opportunities and internships. Similarly to how Ann Brown phrases it, in today’s society

employers are looking less at high performing students, and more at who is the better worker.

In tandem with these authors arguments, Luisa H. Pinto claims that