High School Athletic Engagement and Job Characteristics in Adulthood

Daphne Kuo, University of Wisconsin-Madison

The current study examined the long-term influences of participating in sports activities in high school on occupational and job characteristics throughout adulthood. High school athletic engagement is positively associated with educational attainment, but the relationships between athletic engagement and labor market success are less conclusive. Our earlier study also showed that high school athletes tend to do better in education and wealth, but not in occupational status and income. Using multivariate regression analysis, we study whether there are differences in occupational and job characteristics between athlete and non-athlete high school graduates. Our analytical sample was drawn from a large group of high school male graduates in Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (WLS) from age 35 to retirement.The high school athletes in the current study were more likely to have jobs that were less dirty, of higher authority, and in manager position then non-athletes.