Creative work careers: pathways and portfolios for the creative economy

Abstract

This article examines the career opportunities, challenges and trajectories of creative work. As part of the Creative Trident approach to creative workforce measurements, the embedded mode draws attention to creative work as it is undertaken outside of the creative industries. This article further considers and conceptualises the complex careers pathways of creative workers. Firstly, creative workers in non-creative occupations in other industries are discussed to highlight the challenges and barriers to securing creative employment and the balance creative workers establish with other forms of employment. Secondly, students from creative courses going into non-creative occupations in other industries are discussed to highlight challenges students face in making the transition from higher education to creative employment in terms of workforce expectations and the competition amongst graduates. This article critically evaluates assumptions about transitions from education into creative work employment and associated career trajectories.

Towards ‘Embedded Non-creative Work’? Administration, digitisation and the recorded music industry

“…The "embedded creativity" concept has expanded the scope of the sector, alongside our knowledge of career trajectories. Likewise, careful attention to non-creative occupations in which aspiring creative professionals commonly find a (first) home (Ashton, 2015; Bennett and Bridgstock, 2015)may provide critical nuance. As Bilton (2015: 163) argues, echoing interviewees' calls for institutional recognition, policy would (still) benefit from evaluating the contribution of 'uncreative' structures and intermediaries as generative limits on creativity.…”

“…Cunningham, 2011;DCMS, 2015). This re-articulation directs attention towards the last category, 'embedded creatives' (working in areas like health, manufacturing and banking), offering new opportunities to intervene in the unevenness and plurality of educational routes, labour markets and career paths (Ashton, 2015;Bridgstock and Cunningham, 2016;Hearn et al, 2014). "Support" work is present in official statistics, yet hardly receives the same sustained and granular attention as "creative" equivalents.…”

Work-based learning for the creative industries

“…While this model works well for the construction or aerospace sector where there are several large sized industry employers in need of a high volume of employees with precise knowledge and skills, it is less effective for small and micro business, particularly within web and social media. However, this could be mitigated by structuring curricula to embedding creative orientated students in non-creative sector apprenticeships, as identified by Cunningham (2014) and Ashton (2015).…”

Higher Education and the Creative Economy: Creative Graduates, Knowledge Transfer and Regional Impact Debates

“…On the other hand, there are regions like Edinburgh, with a slight oversupply in creative occupations and not enough graduates to meet the requirements to fill these gaps. There are a diversity of explanations for the mismatch between supply of creative qualifications towards actual creative occupations and creative employment opportunities, including the increasing importance of freelancing, project‐based work and portfolio careers, which is hard to contextualise with regard to HE provision (Abreu et al ; Ashton ).…”