Arts, creative arts & humanities - an overview

• An overview
• Destinations
• Types of Work
• Contacts and resources

View destinations of specific subjects:

» An overview

English and history courses are generally seen as non-vocational subjects. Studies in these subjects keep career options open, so students should use their time and studies to explore and gain voluntary or other work experience to inform and guide their future decisions.

Creative and performing arts, which are also covered in this section, may be seen as more vocational in that many of the courses embrace specific related skills. Like English and history, these too are popular courses, and students need to be prepared to face keen competition in these sectors of employment; career plans may focus on these areas but students should keep their options open by also considering alternatives or contingencies.

Graduates from all these courses enter a very diverse range of occupations, regardless of whether their subject is considered to be vocational or non- vocational. It is widely acknowledged that identifying, finding and securing initial entry to the areas of work popular with these students may require a variety of strategies to be put in place. The actions and decisions involved in this process may take longer than the six months post graduation focus of the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) survey reported here. It is, therefore, widely acknowledged that there are limitations in using the survey as evidence of the longer term labour market outcome for arts/humanities graduates.

For students opting for courses in arts, creative arts and humanities, it is usually their interest, commitment or ability in the subject area which make it the dominant factor in their choice of undergraduate study - findings which are reinforced in a recent Higher Education Academy survey of humanities graduates.

Many aspects need to be taken into account when these students have to decide whether to extend their specialist interest and make it the focus and direction of their job search or further study. In some of the job sectors favoured by these graduates, opportunities may be few and far between, making entry extremely competitive. The need to have ‘hands-on’ experience, providing the opportunity to demonstrate skills and commitment via unpaid work, is not uncommon as a means of ‘getting a foot in the door’.

Irrespective of the degree subjects, many of the skills acquired by graduates during their study are widely accepted by many different employers and professions, providing the applicants can identify, demonstrate and market these skills. Increasingly, personal development planning programmes are available to students in higher education enabling them to develop and reflect on their own skills profile, and to inform and assist their career decisions and progression. The survey on humanities graduates previously referred to states that ‘this is particularly valuable to humanities graduates who have no clear vocational direction’. Students should, therefore, ensure that they ‘sign up’ for these practices or programmes. There are many options available to graduates of ‘any discipline’; opportunities exist via direct entry into employment or training whilst others may require further insight, experience or attainment of an appropriate postgraduate qualification.

» Destinations

Table 1 shows the first destinations of 2005 arts, creative arts and humanities graduates.

Six months after graduation, the ‘creative’ areas of media studies, art and design and performing arts have employment rates (including work and study) at 77%, 71.9% and 70.5% respectively. These figures are comparable to, or in the case of media studies, well above, the average figure for all first degree graduates, at 71.7%.

Despite the relatively high employment rates for the creative areas, unemployment rates for these graduates six months after graduation were also relatively high at 8.6% for media studies, 10.2% for art and design students and 6.6% for performing arts. Each of these was above the average figure for all first degree graduates (6.2%). For humanities subjects, unemployment for English was 6.2% and history at 6.8%, whilst at 5.5%, unemployment for modern languages was better than the ‘all subjects’ figure.

English and history, whilst having lower entry to employment figures, both show a higher rate of further study and training (as a sole activity), at 21%. Similarly, one in five (19.6%) modern languages graduates also chose this option.

Performing arts also has a relatively high percentage of students progressing to further study as a sole activity, at 16.1%, which is 2.2 percentage point higher than the ‘all subjects’ rate (13.9%).

» Types of Work

Graduates from arts, creative arts and humanities subjects entered a diverse range of occupations. For example, 9.9% of media studies graduates entered work as marketing, sales and advertising professionals six months after graduation and 15.6% found work as arts and media professionals. Many of the jobs within the marketing, sales and advertising category are ‘new’ graduate occupations, which typically involve strategic responsibility and require a hybrid of skills, including the ability to interact effectively with others and to access and use specialist information.* For history graduates, commercial, public sector and business and financial areas of work remain popular options, and one in seven (14%) English graduates attained direct entry into education in varying roles, including teaching English as a foreign language, which continues to be a popular option for new graduates.

For art and design graduates, 31.6% secured work in the art, design and cultural category. A relatively high percentage (14.9%) of these graduates were also employed in the ‘other occupations’ category, which includes many skilled craft occupations. For some, occupying ‘other’ roles may only be an interim choice, as decisions and actions for a variety of reasons may be somewhat fluid during this early period after graduation.

* Graduate Market Trends, Winter 2005/6. Report by Professor Kate Purcell and Charlie Ball on the findings of The Class of '99: A study of the early labour market experiences of recent graduates. See http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/ier/research/class99/

» Contacts and resources

Websites

Resources on this site

• Your degree in art and design
• Your degree in graphic design
• Your degree in fine art
• Your degree in music
• Your degree in performing arts (dance/drama)
• Your degree in English
• Your degree in history
• Your degree in media/communication studies
• Your degree in modern languages
• Explore types of jobs - occupations especially relevant to arts and humanities graduates can be found under arts, design and crafts, administration (specifically arts administration), advertising, marketing & PR and publishing, media & performing arts.
• Industry insights - again, a range of titles are appropriate to arts, creative arts & humanities graduates including advertising & PR, broadcast, film and interactive media, creative and cultural arts, fashion and textiles, government and public administration, and publishing.

General links

• a-n: The Artists Information Company - resources for those looking for work in the visual arts
• Arts Council England
• BBC Jobs
• Broadcast Journalism Training Council (BJTC)
• Careers A-Z
• The Conference of Drama Schools
• The Design Council
• 4Talent
• Chartered Institute of Linguists (CIOL)
• Incorporated Society of Musicians (ISM)
• The National Centre for Languages (CILT)
• Netgain
• Skillset: The Sector Skills Council for Creative Media

Publications

• Careers Using Languages, Edda Ostarhild, Kogan Page, ISBN 0749437316
• BFI Film Handbook 2005, Eddie Dyja (ed.) ISBN 1844570428
• BFI Television Handbook 2005: the essential guide to UK TV, Alistair D. McGown (ed.) ISBN 1844570274
• The MediaGuardian Media Directory 2006 : an essential handbook, Chris Alden (ed.) ISBN 1843540592
• Careers & Jobs in the Media, Simon Kent, Kogan Page, ISBN 0749442476
• What Can I Do With…an Arts Degree?, Beryl Dixon, Trotman, ISBN 0856607223
• What Can I Do With….a Media Studies Degree? Margaret McAlpine, Trotman. ISBN: 0856608661