Abstract
The environment can influence sport participation and performance at all levels: from grassroots to high performance. While the impact of the environment has been explored in able-bodied sporting contexts, there is significantly less research conducted in Paralympic sport. This research specifically focused on the influence of the environment on those Paralympic and para-athletes balancing their sporting career with university, also known as 'para student-athletes'. Accordingly, the purpose of this thesis was to identify and explore environmental factors influencing para student-athletes. To achieve this purpose, there were three objectives of this research project. The first objective was to explore the impact of the environment in Paralympic sport. The second objective was to explore factors impacting dual career pathways in sport and study for para student-athletes. The third objective was to identify how universities can provide support for para student-athletes, with a view to providing practical recommendations for Australian universities in how to best support this population.