Introduction

The dual career concept is a way for future elite athletes to combine their schooling with an elite sport career. The Swedish sport model, established by the Swedish Parliament, stipulates that young people who invest in elite sport by combining their education with their studies should be able to get a job when their sports career is over. However, within several sports in Sweden, the transition from lower to upper secondary education is decisive for a future career in sports. As such, the possibilities for a career as an elite athlete might be determined during the admission to the upper secondary school, when the student is between 15 and 16 years old.

Aim and theoretical framework

The dual career concept will be used to frame our discussion. Henry (2013) discussed two rationales regarding athletes’ access to education and vocational training, (a) a rightsbased discourse which argues that athletes are denied the same access to education and that is guaranteed for other workers, and (b) a performance-based discourse which argues that the athlete’s ability to perform is enhanced by their access to educational opportunities. Inspired by Henry (2013), this study will examine the extent to which every talented athlete in Sweden has equal access to attend a sport high school and develop as an athlete at the same time.

Method

Our study is based on questionnaire survey conducted among Swedish athletes who were on the national team level in their sport.

Results 

Preliminary results demonstrate that the access to a sport school depends on the sport an athlete has chosen, and where he or she lives. 

Discussion and conclusions 

The Swedish sport schools have been successful in enrolling many athletes who later succeeded in elite sport. However, we argue that one of the unintended consequences with the current Swedish model is that it can be a glass ceiling for some athletes. Our study suggests several problematic issues: 

• Students pursuing elite sport tend to come from a favorable socioeconomic background, with well-educated parents with a solid income. Another crucial factor is the parents’ own connections to and experiences of sport.
• Sports with many athletes can give their own athletes better conditions for combining studies and sport by creating educational options with a sport profile. Other sports have considerably fewer, if any, alternatives to offer young elite athletes who wish to make an elite investment.
• Elite athletes in Sweden cannot be guaranteed a place in the education program of their own choice, as is done in some countries.
• How the individual upper secondary school and sports clubs is organized may be of importance. Lund and Liljeholm (2012) distinguish the elite club model, which is based on a strong club, which preferably runs an individual sport, from the elite environment model, where the school is in focus and several sports can share facilities.