Career attitude of art students

Whitesel, L.S. (1980). Career Attitudes of Art Students. Studies in Art Education, [online] 22(1), p.36. Available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00393541.1980.11650270?needAccess=true [Accessed 8 Apr. 2021].

1. Woman art students rated their commitment to a career at the very highest level and also claimed that their schools had provided them with inadequate career counselling.

2. More male art students, than male psychology students, felt that they would not be able to earn a living in their field of study.

3. Woman art students expressed concern that they had been inadequately counselled to function in those careers.

4. The male art students’ negative responses about earning a living in their field might reflect a similar lack of career information.

5. 97% of the woman claimed they already thought of themselves as artists, while just 79% of the men did.

6. Only 62% of the art students felt able to earn a living in art, while 66% of the English and 88% of the psychology students felt able to earn a living in their fields.

7. 82% of the art students felt that they had had inadequate career counselling in their schools, as compared with only 59% of the English students and 68% of the psychology students.

Program and Career perceptions of undergraduate students majoring in Fine Art

Thaller, E.A. (1993). Program and Career Perceptions of Undergraduate Students Majoring in Fine Art. [Doctoral Dissertation] pp.1–343. Available at: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED368280.pdf [Accessed 5 Apr. 2021].

Many of the respondents were expecting to have a difficult time after graduation, trying to accomplish multiple goals of getting admitted to a Graduate Art program, becoming a practising artist, and finding a survival job.

Although many described negative past experiences in jobs that were unsuitable for them, 50% were expecting to support themselves after graduation through ”menial jobs,” ”odd jobs,” ”anything that won’t degrade” themselves, and any kind of work ”that pays a half-way decent wage.”

  1. Perceptions of Art and Art Courses

1.1 Art was extremely important to them. Some said Art was the most important thing in their life.

1.2 Most of the informants said that their decision to major in Art was the result of a lifelong interest or desire to study Art.

1.3 They had chosen their particular area of concentration in Art because of enjoyment in working with that medium, skill or familiarity with the medium, preference for the type of Art product created, better rapport with the professors, or preferences for the social structure in that area.

1.4 Many were actually ”generalists” because of the ”creative freedom” to mix Art media together.

2. Future Goals and Expectations

2.1 Many of them seemed unsure about the means to achieve their goals, since achieving them depended greatly on circumstances and on other people.

2.2 Their responses often indicated multiple goals, and often their Art career goals involved some Art-related way to support themselves such as teaching or museum work.

2.3 Their answers about what they were most likely to do indicated a variety of activities or a somewhat complex career path – to work and to do artwork equally.

3. Job plans and financial expectations

77% said they would consider at working a full-time Art-related job (which is sometimes hard to find).

32% indicated that they would consider a full-time job not related to Art.

55% did say they would consider working at a part-time job not related to art and working part-time at their artwork.

32% said it was likely that they would work part-time to full-time at a job not related to Art after graduation.

4. Specific suggestions by informants

4.1 having career information available in Art department offices and offering career-oriented Art courses to tell student about what to do with a major in Art and how to prepare for that.

4.2 one informant wished for a course in economics or money management specially designed for art majors.

5. Other factors

5.1 The literature showed that Art students tended to have values systems and personality traits that might make working at certain jobs more difficult. Examples were not like a job that involved a boring routine or not liking to be a ”pushy salesperson.”

5.2 The problem with taking any jobs available without analyzing and choosing jobs carefully is that they might risk getting more disillusioned by trying to do jobs for which they are unsuited in personality and values.

5.3 It is important for everyone to learn to understand their personality traits and learn to compare those to what is needed for particular jobs before they attempt them.

Arts students are given ‘false jobs hope’ by colleges

editor, R.A.E. (2018). Colleges exaggerating arts students’ career prospects, says Ofsted chief. The Guardian. [online] 21 Nov. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/nov/21/colleges-exaggerating-arts-students-career-prospects-says-ofsted-chief [Accessed 3 Apr. 2021].

‘Arts and media does stand out as the area where there is greatest mismatch between the numbers of students taking the courses and their future employment in the industry.’

‘Yet even with the poor prospects, course adverts often listed potential jobs in the arts which are, in reality, unlikely to be available to the vast majority of learners but underplay the value of other skills these courses develop.’

‘However increasing numbers of students are taking up media, performing arts, music and design courses.
Mrs Spielman made her comments in a speech to the conference of the Association of Colleges in Birmingham. This coincided with a report from Ofsted that outlined concerns about the number of courses on offer that do not lead to good local jobs. The watchdog found that many colleges collected little data about the destinations of their students.
Where data was available it was found that arts and media courses scored low in terms of employment prospects. Yet at least three colleges surveyed by Ofsted reported these courses as having the most applicants.’

What’s Really Matter When Choosing a College Major!

SalahJaradat, M. (2015). What’s Really Matter When Choosing a College Major! International Journal of Arts and Commerce, [online] 4(2), pp.92–110. Available at: https://ijac.org.uk/images/frontImages/gallery/Vol._4_No._2/13._92-110.pdf [Accessed 30 Mar. 2021].

Factors Influence College Major Choice:

1. Different sources of information and influence

1.1 Some students are influenced by the direct or indirect recommendations of people they knew or met

1.2 the advice students receive from parents, friends and school and college advisors

1.3 university catalogs and department brochures as being influential resource that influence major choice

2. Characteristics of the Job

2.1 Future earnings have been measured as the most important characteristic of the job

2.2 the choice of major was promoted by students’ confidence in their ability to make appropriate decisions to choose careers that result in higher earnings. 

3. student fit and interest in the subject 

3.1 students’ general abilities and their major- specific abilities play an important role in explaining college major choices.

3.2 student interest in the subject is an important influence on major choice

3.3 passion drive students’ life, and tastes for majors are a dominant factor for choosing specific majors by students.

Results

The three hypotheses the researcher analyzed were:

  • Students will choose majors that are recommended by parents, friends, teachers, advisors andrecruiters (Different sources of information & influence category).
  • Students will choose majors that provide them with potential job opportunities, career advancementand pay them well (Characteristics of the job category).
  • Students will choose majors that well-match their interest and abilities (Student fit &interest in thesubject category).

2 Reasons of Difficult Employment & UAL’s foundation course

I think there are two main reasons for the problematic employment of students majoring in fine art. One is the nature of the major. Art major is a creative major and does not have a solid professional attribute.

‘ Of course, in uncertain economic times, any student graduating from university is no longer guaranteed a job. If this is true of students graduating with degrees in such career fields as business, law, and teaching, it is even truer in the creative field.’ Kobe said.

Entrepreneurship for the Creative and Cultural Industries 

The other reason is that some students don’t like this major, so it’s hard for them to stick with it and become an artist, and they change careers and do something else.

So far, what I want to do is focus on the second reason.
I checked the website of UAL subject, UAL insight, and UAL foundation course. I would like to know how UAL introduce the different courses and help the student find the most suitable course.

Then I found that the UAL foundation course is quite similar to my project. This course provides a broad range of experience to help the student decide their future direction.

I think this is a great opportunity for students who can afford the course and are willing to spend a year exploring it. But what about the other students? Especially for international students, one year’s tuition and living expenses are also quite a lot. Maybe I can focus on other groups of students on this issue.

The employment situation of fine art background students

Today I investigated the employment situation of my previous classmates.

The data shows that 

  1. Only 4% of people are doing an art-related job. One is a curator, and the other is an art blogger.
  2. 37% of people choose to be a teacher. Most of them work in preschool or elementary school, and some teach Chinese classes or work in the administration department. 
  3. 15% of people choose design works like graphic design and UI design. But they have to learn design-related knowledge that they didn’t know in the undergraduate course to qualify for an interview. 
  4. 17% of people have jobs that are entirely unrelated to their majors.

Redefine research question

My previous question is :

How can art graduates develop their careers in the Internet age?

At first, I’d like to help these creative people to develop their careers. For instance, I can create a platform that could be a free magazine or a website to promote their artworks.

Then I interviewed some fine art background friends. I try to know how they think about this idea and the employment problem of fine art students. After talking to them, I realized that supporting ourselves by selling artworks is not that hard, especially in this internet age. We can post our work online and acquire our audiences. The only difficulty is persistence, and lots of people gave up before the chance comes to them.

But why is it hard for them to persist? The reason is that they don’t like their major. Why they choose a major that they dislike? Because they didn’t fully understand this major when they make a choice.

Then they spent four years learning a course they dislike and developing their career which has no relative to their background.

Based on all of this, my question evolved into:

How can art students choose the right major to help them define themselves and find suitable jobs after they graduate?

Primary research- Interview with fine art graduates

Today I talked with a few friends about the Employment problem of art students. At first, I want to know why it’s hard for an art student to sell their artworks. I guess it’s because of some aesthetic differences between artists and audiences, or some artists don’t know how to communicate with the audience. After I talked with them, I change my mind.

1. Most people don’t choose this major because they love it.

“Why you chose a fine art major?”

A: “Because this major has the highest probability of being admitted.” 

B: “I misunderstood the major, I thought it is another one.”

C: “Because I am curious about this major.”

D: “Because one of my teachers recommended this major.”

2. When they choose a major, they don’t think about their future employment.

“Before you chose this major, did you know the career direction of this major?”

A: “No.”

B: “No. Maybe could be an art teacher.”

C: “No, I have no idea about employment and the future.”

D: “I didn’t think about it myself. My parents did.”

3. Some people find it is not suitable for them after they chose it. 

“Do you think this major is right for you?”

A: “It is not suitable for me. This major requires more carefulness, and I am a careless person.”

B: “Not very suitable for my current job. I am a UI designer now, and my major cannot help me.”

C: “In the process of learning, I found that I did not like this major. When I was about to graduate, I came into contact with some other design majors. I found that compared with pure art, I was more attracted to some majors that could realize my ideas in the form of products.”

D: I think it suits me, but I also want to try other majors which is more suitable for me.

4. Market problems VS Personal problems

“Why it’s hard for a fine art student to find a job? What’s your opinion?”

A: “Market problems. Few people are willing to buy a painting. If the price is too high, they won’t buy it. If the price is too low, you won’t sell it.”

B: “Supply exceeds demand. And the market is not perfect.”

C: “I think nowadays not many people have both exceptional talent, strong belief, and hard work. No matter what kind of style you paint, there is always someone who likes it. The difference is the number of people.”

D: “No fame, no sale, no appreciation. Art is a dispensable thing for a lot of people, and most people don’t spend money on a painting unless it’s given as a gift.”

“From your heart, what does drawing mean to you?”

A: Things I can do in my leisure time.

B: The meaning of painting for me is to express feelings. A good painting will have a sense of achievement, while a bad painting will make me unhappy. I like to draw, but I get tired of it if I paint every day. I only draw when I have an impulse. I haven’t painted since graduation.

C: the thing I want to do all my life.

D: Painting is a kind of expression. It is to express some ideas in the form of painting, just like speaking or writing an article

“When was the last time you drew a picture?”

A: “I haven’t done it in years.”                 （Pet Shop Owner）

B: “I haven’t painted since graduation.” （UI designer）

C: “Almost never after I graduation.”     （Jewelry Design Learners）

D: “Last Tuesday.”                                     （Fine art PhD）

Based on all of it, I think ‘personal problems’ is the main reason why it is hard for fine art students to support themselves with their talent. Most of them gave up and went on to do something else. Some of them think it’s market problems. However, I think that’s their excuse. It is easy for them to give up because they don’t really like their major, and they think it’s not suitable for them. It could be better if they can fully understand a major before they make a choice.
Maybe I can provide a platform to help these students fully understand the differences, the content, future development, and employment directions between different majors. For example, I can invite some experts in different majors to provide various workshops for these students.

Reading notes – Don’t Get a Job, Make a Job’

The books I’ve been reading recently: ‘Don’t Get a Job, Make a Job’.

This book introduced some strategies by lots of different experiences and stories of designers. One of the stories is quite interesting — Go, guerrilla.

They offered free design consultation to anyone that wanted it at a various busy locations in London. Using this way to go to the potential clients. They said that ‘Free Architecture’ put us in contact with hundreds of people, taught us about clients, gave us many thought-provoking conversations, and won us the projects that started the firm.

It reminds me of the idea from my tutorial – a free magazine. Providing something ‘free’ could be a good start, which is easier to go to the clients and to receive feedback.

Some thoughts and backgrounds

I think my project is also related to ‘the employment of art students’.

From my own experience, it is very hard to find a job for a fine art background student. They only know how to paint, and most of them want to be artists and make a living by selling paintings. But after graduation, they find out how cruel the reality is.

More than half of my undergraduate classmates did not take up art-related jobs after graduation. Maybe because ‘art’ is a quite personal thing, and it’s hard to find someone who appreciates your artworks and is happy to pay for it.

Some data:

  1. After 2010, the employment rate of art undergraduates was less than 30%, the unemployment rate of fine arts was as high as 15.6%, the unemployment rate of musicology was 15%, and the turnover rate of art, design and media majors was as high as 54% within half a year.
  2. With the implementation of the enrollment expansion of the college entrance examination, the popularity of the art examination began to rise in 2002, with the number of art examinees rising from 32,000 in that year to more than 1 million in 2013.According to the Ministry of Education, 1.17 million people registered for the national art exam in 2020.