Dual Careers and Academic Achievements: Does Elite Sport Make a Difference?

Abstract

In the literature on Dual Careers (DC) there has been an ongoing debate on whether there is a trade-off between being an elite athlete and achieving academically. Is the time needed to compete at the highest level a barrier to academic achievement? Or can knowledge and expertise obtained from an elite sporting career be transferred into academic performance? In this paper, we aim to answer these questions using a unique database on talented young athletes enrolled in the Danish high-performance program covering the period from 2010 to 2019. Comparing high school graduation grades from a full national sample of non-athlete high school students and elite athletes who also attend high school – and controlling for relevant covariates – our results suggest that student-athletes perform better than their fellow students who are not engaged in elite sport. We also test whether DC support initiatives make a difference in this regard. Results and implications of the study are discussed.