From athletic talent development to dual career development? A case study in a Finnish high performance sports environment

The focus of dual career (DC) research has shifted from exploring individual experiences within Athletic Talent Development Environments (ATDEs) toward understanding the impact of the environment and the broader cultural context on individuals’ developmental trajectories in Dual Career Development Environments (DCDEs). To comply with national and EU recommendations for socially responsible elite sport, many successful ATDEs list DC as one of their primary values and advertise themselves as DCDEs in order to attract more athletes. The present study aimed to evaluate whether and how a talent development environment for youth athletes in Finland has transformed from an ATDE to DCDE by explorin…