Career paths of International Mathematical (IMO), Physics (IPhO), and Chemistry (IChO) Olympiad participants

Abstract Each year, the most talented high school students from around the world participate in international Olympiads. In this paper, we investigate the career paths of participants in the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO), the International Physics Olympiad (IPhO), and the International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO). Our sample includes 2,642 participants from 22 countries, each of which had at least 80 percent of its participants earn medals over a decade. The main aim of this study is to examine whether participation in different international Olympiad subjects is associated with differences in participants’ long-term career trajectories. We find that international mobility and attendance at prestigious global universities do not vary significantly by Olympiad type, but are instead largely country-dependent. In contrast, university major choice, PhD field, publication performance, and occupational outcomes vary strongly by Olympiad subject. We further show that publication performance is positively correlated across Olympiad types within countries, highlighting the importance of country-level context alongside subject-specific specialization.