Differentiated pathways in upper secondary school. World-class Swedish athletes experiences

More knowledge about how to best combine and facilitate dual career pathways is needed, as current research is unclear. Therefore, the current study aims to retrospectively gain a deeper understanding of how former Swedish world-class athlete's experienced differentiated pathways in the upper secondary school period, both for those in dual-career support-international-level (DCS-IL) programs and in mainstream upper secondary school (MSSs). Ten former world-class Swedish athletes were purposively chosen for interviews, of whom five had taken part in a DCS-IL program and five had attended MSSs. The dual career development environment working model created by Henriksen et al. was used as the theoretical framework. Four main themes were generated: beliefs, values and motivations driving the choice of dual careers pathway; important key stakeholders in dual careers; a lack of balance in dual career pursuit; and dual careers and quality of life. Our findings showed that the advantage of studying in a DCS-IL program is that it offers access to coaches, sports peers, and training facilities within the sports domain, which in some sports is crucial for athletic development. The benefit of attending MSSs is that students engage in social contexts outside the sports domain, which can be advantageous in cases of athletic stagnation. It is important to note that DCS-IL programs can have a skewed focus on sports performance, which can inhibit academic development in favor of sporting success. Engaging with multiple social contexts can be advantageous in coping with various challenges in both study and sporting contexts.