What next for Arts graduates?
Having worked for almost 20 years as a lecturer in HE I have seen incredible changes in the cultural landscape of arts education here in the UK. When I began, there was a clear investment in the arts, not only financially but in educational and creative spaces at all stages. There were multiple opportunities for young people to engage in the arts at school be it funded music lessons and art clubs or drama and dance being taught as compulsory curriculum in secondary schools. Sadly, we are now operating in a very different world. Arts funding has been steadily and systematically eroded from education at all levels and it is not at all unusual to hear from young people who have had no access to a creative education at all during their school journey.
It becomes noteworthy when these young people arrive in colleges and universities with a passion, but at times very little belief or confidence in their art form. They have often spent years feeling like an outsider or being told by teachers they are wasting their time. Of course, this is not always the case, the lucky ones are inspired in school and others are fortunate enough to be able to afford the excellent private provisions offered regionally and nationally here in the UK. However, the poverty gap means that the most economically and socially disadvantaged are also denied access to creative training and education from the outset. As we aim to provide a valuable higher education experience to our undergraduates the challenges have never been greater.
It is no longer enough for students to successfully perform on stage, or write a punchy essay. Students must be encouraged to vision the possibilities for their futures and be assured of a pathway post-graduation that is desirable and attainable. For those of us operating in the arts and creative communities, we have long known the transferable skills offered via arts training and drama and performance degrees. Certainly 25 years ago many of my drama graduate peers were snapped up for lucrative roles in media and PR given their elite communication skills and organisational talents. In the 21st century there are job roles and careers that we could have never predicted and it is now vital that we prepare our undergraduates to not only believe there could be opportunities for them, but that we instil a confidence that they can pioneer and curate their own futures.
Universities are under the microscope in 2023 with high fees, strike action and reduced contact hours often marring the experience for undergraduates across the UK. It is essential that we keep the student experience at the centre of all decision making and it is creative colleges and universities that I am seeing do this best. As I begin to draft a new suite of HE courses for students that wish to study close to home, I am moving away from the traditional course designs and I am placing employability at the centre of the study model. No longer is it sufficient to just have a degree when entering the work force and thus, the skills and real-life work experiences offered by an undergraduate programme are paramount. We must distinguish undergraduate courses from drama school training. Talented, creative young people will always want to perform; however, they can also be shown how to use those talents in alternative spaces, in varied communities and in digital landscapes. Students must be encouraged to take control of their creative work as writers, directors, producers, arts practitioners alongside their performance aspirations. They must be guided to consider what opportunities are out there regionally and nationally and be championed to build upon and diversify their skillsets. Students must be able to think laterally and be solution led when they reach the inevitable obstacles that will come their way. They need the confidence to embrace freelance work and understand that the ‘portfolio career’ could be a rewarding and exciting prospect.
Undergraduates entering courses now are adept at operating, communicating and managing their lives digitally and we can capitalise on these competencies. We can include assessments via show reel, recorded self-tapes, podcasts and social media management alongside the essential expectations of critical thinking, cultural analysis, academic research and exceptional creative work. These young people will determine how arts and culture develops here in the UK and beyond. They must be supported, guided and encouraged to not only believe they have something to offer, but be enabled to actually go and do it. We need tenacious, brave, focused and creative voices in all areas of the work force and there is no better placed individual than the arts graduate.
Victoria Clark is an arts practitioner with specialisms in contemporary theatre direction, social & cultural contexts and critical theoretical perspectives. She is the Programme Leader for the FdA and BA Performing Arts at Bournemouth and Poole College and a Visiting Lecturer at Arts University Bournemouth.
