Developing self-efficacy and career optimism through participation in communities of practice within Australian creative industries

Abstract

Building a sustainable career in the creative industries is a challenging proposition. Creative workers face high levels of employment insecurity and limited career development opportunity. Those working in the sector must build discipline-oriented career self-management skills, while also finding ways to cope with the psychologically demanding nature of precarious work. Two competencies that contribute to creative career success are self-efficacy and career optimism, both of which support resilience and persistence in the face of career obstacles. This study used narrative data from 28 interviews across six creative disciplines to examine how creative workers who work within communities of practice build self-efficacy and career optimism. The findings suggested that, by participating in communities of practice, creative practitioners not only build professional skills that align with their discipline but also gain psychosocial support that promotes resilience. There is an opportunity, therefore, to enhance understanding of communities of practice with creative career development offerings.

Students’ work placement learning and employability nexus: Reflections from experiential learning and social cognitive career theories

“…In formulating Hypotheses 1, 2 and 3 from our theories, we can deduce testable work placement learning and employability skills nexuses. From previous studies (e.g., Brooks and Youngson, 2016;Chivers and Flatten, 1996;Crowford and Wang, 2015;Gomez et al, 2004;Jackson, 2014;Moise et al, 2013), we know that WPL can promote learning outcomes, career behaviours and employability skills. Similarly, the literature has also shown that one's confidence or self-efficacy has a significant link with learning outcomes (Bandura et al, 2001;Chukwuedo and Ogbuanya, 2020a;Deer et al, 2018;Godwin, 2019).…”

“…From previous studies (e.g., Brooks and Youngson, 2016;Chivers and Flatten, 1996;Crowford and Wang, 2015;Gomez et al, 2004;Jackson, 2014;Moise et al, 2013), we know that WPL can promote learning outcomes, career behaviours and employability skills. Similarly, the literature has also shown that one's confidence or self-efficacy has a significant link with learning outcomes (Bandura et al, 2001;Chukwuedo and Ogbuanya, 2020a;Deer et al, 2018;Godwin, 2019). Specifically, since engagement "delineates the state of being engaged from its antecedents or its consequences, facilitating investigation on the factors that hinder or enhance student engagement" (Zhoc et al, 2019: 220), we expect that a student's CDSE would lead to EPS.…”

“…Previous studies (e.g., Gomez et al, 2004;Jackson, 2014) have shown that WPL fosters the academic performance of students for successful graduation-for a smooth university-to-work transition. Specifically, there is a significant link between experiential learning via work placement and students' employability skills (Okolie et al, 2021;Okoye and Edokpolor, 2021).…”

Who Did You Meet at the Venice Biennale? Education-to-Work Transition Enhancers for Aspiring Arts Professionals in Australia

“…Grugulis and Stoyanova, 2011; McLeod et al, 2011). Goodwin (2019) considers communities of practice from a psychological perspective, finding that participation promotes resilience among creative practitioners. Other scholars consider communities of practice and networking more indirectly, for instance, focusing on the impact these have on social capital among freelance musicians (Dowd and Pinheiro, 2013) and on the development of cultural networks (Blackstone et al, 2016).…”

Effects of career adaptability and career optimism on career intention of tourism and hospitality students

“…Huang and Baker (2021) highlighted that career construction theory is crucial to solving problems relevant to T&H employment. Despite the growing emphasis on self-directed career management, few empirical investigations have contemplated career adaptability and career optimism in the T&H industry (Manoharan et al , 2021; Goodwin, 2019). Only few studies tested career construction theory with the development of career optimism (Tolentino et al , 2014).…”