Kinesiology Doctoral Student, Foreman, Receives Student Writing Award from AKA
Uses Doctoral Research to Examine Head Coach Dismissals and Coach Candidate Pools
04/18/16
Jeremy Foreman, a doctoral candidate in the School of Kinesiology (SOK) in the College of Human Sciences & Education (CHSE) and California native, received the Graduate Student Writing Award for being the lead author on a submitted publication, and an honorable mention for the Doctoral Scholar Award for overall academic success and leadership accomplishments from the American Kinesiology Association (AKA).
“To me, these awards signal to the greater kinesiology community what we are doing here at LSU’s School of Kinesiology,” Foreman said. “For us graduate students, these awards are especially meaningful as it signals to the job market our proficiencies, especially for the Graduate Student Writing Award for articles which may not have been read by potential employers.”
Dr. Melinda Solmon, director of the graduate program at SOK, said she is thrilled to see Foreman receive these awards.
“To see one of my students receive not one, but two, awards from a national organization is humbling,” she said. “It truly signifies that the work we do here at SOK is important and impactful.”
Foreman’s research interests revolve around labor and personnel issues in sport, and his winning publication focuses on developing a better understanding of why head coaches get fired—specifically examining the effect of the quantity of available candidates to replace the head coach on the dismissal decision.
Foreman said management scholars assume these candidate pools have a significant effect on executive dismissals, but have difficulty proving this idea due to data limitations. However, he said he and his co-author found no significant effects of alternative candidates on dismissal decisions.
“This is an important finding for several reasons and can affect both management and sport researchers and practitioners because it challenges the assumptions of past management research on dismissals and leads to many questions about head coach dismissal decisions, such as ‘Are head coach dismissal decisions made rationally?’ and ‘Is the [well]-known poor coach preferred over the unknown candidate?’” he explained.
Foreman said he believes his research will impact the field of kinesiology in many ways, but mostly by integrating a multidisciplinary perspective into the field. His research draws from—and builds upon—the literature from management, economics, sociology, political science, and psychology that can be applied to kinesiology.
“My goal is to not only improve kinesiology research and practices by incorporating new perspectives, but also encourage other disciplines to seek kinesiology research to incorporate within their fields,” Foreman said, adding that an understanding of multiple disciplines is necessary and can provide deeper understandings of how to study certain topics and achieve the best possible outcomes.
After Foreman completes his PhD, he intends to secure a tenure-track faculty position within a sport management department at a university to continue teaching courses and conducting research in sport management.
To current undergraduate students, Foreman encourages early research.
“Begin conducting research now,” he said. “LSU offers many opportunities for undergraduates to conduct research, whether it is using databases available through the LSU libraries, hosting Discover Day for presenting undergraduate research, or offering course credit in statistics or independent study.”
Reaching out to current course instructors or researchers with whom an undergraduate may share a research opportunity is another way to get guidance for, or potentially begin, the research process, Foreman said.
In the undergraduate courses he teaches, Foreman encourages students to get familiar with resources such as Google Scholar because it is important for everyone, not just students or faculty, to have access to resources needed to make informed decisions throughout life.
About SOK
The LSU School of Kinesiology advances the understanding of physical activity, sport,
and health to optimize the quality of life for diverse populations through excellence
in teaching, learning, discovery, and engagement.
Visit the School of Kinesiology at lsu.edu/kinesiology
About CHSE
The College of Human Sciences & Education (CHSE) is a nationally accredited division of Louisiana State University. The College is comprised of the School of Education, the School of Leadership and Human Resource Development, the School of Kinesiology, the School of Library and Information Science, the School of Social Work, and the University Laboratory School. These combined schools offer 8 undergraduate degree programs and 18 graduate programs, enrolling more than 1,900 undergraduate and 977 graduate students. The College is committed to achieving the highest standards in teaching, research, and service and is continually working to improve its programs.
Visit the College of Human Sciences & Education at chse.lsu.edu.