Elite sports and studies at upper secondary school – opportunities and challenges. A retrospective study of world- class athletes in Sweden.

PhD project by Claes Nyberg

Being an elite athlete with a focus on the international elite requires a lot of time for training and competition, which can lead to difficulties in catching up with other things in life such as education. The purpose of Dual Career Support Program at upper secondary school (DCS program) in Sweden is to make it easier for young elite athletes to combine studies with elite sports and, by extension, reach the international elite, as well as ensure the opportunity for higher education and greater access to labor market when the sports career is over. However, surveys have shown that young elite athletes at DCS program prioritize their sporting efforts at the expense of studies, which can lead to young elite athletes not reaching their graduation goals at upper secondary school and lacking authorization to apply for higher education. Since education is an important factor in gaining access to the labor market when the sports career is over, this is problematic. Other research has shown that elite athletes who study at mainstream upper secondary school (MSS), without any sports support, had both better sports results and study results at the end of upper secondary school than the corresponding students at the DCS program.

The purpose of the present PhD project is to investigate whether world-class athletes in Sweden have studied at DCS program or MSS and what significance this has had for their sporting success and opportunities for higher education and access to labor market after sports career. Part of the purpose is also to investigate world-class athletes' experiences of combining elite sports and studies at upper secondary school, both for those who studied at DCS program and at MSS.