Career Decision Making for Young Elite Athletes: Are We Ahead on Points?

Abstract

A comparison is made between the career decision making of secondary school students who are also elite athletes and a sample of non-athlete students. The 226 athletes (111 females, 115 males) in the study were on sporting scholarships with the Australian Institute of Sport or state/territory institutions. Measures used included the Career Decision Difficulties Questionnaire and the Athletic Identity Measurement Scale. The non-athlete data were obtained from 272 secondary school students (149 females, 123 males). Only three athletes indicated a singular focus on a career in professional sport. There were significant relationships between athletic identity and career decision difficulties, especially in relation to dysfunctional myths, and there was only one difference between the difficulties reported by athletes and non-athletes. Tentative conclusions are drawn about the factors that impact on career decision making among elite athletes and possible directions for future research.