institute for employment studies

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A study of the career patterns of graduates from UK courses in art, design and media

06 August 2008

CREATIVE GRADUATES – CREATIVE FUTURES is a new longitudinal study of graduates and their career patterns from UK courses in art, design, crafts and media, due to take place in 2008 and 2009. The study is the largest to be undertaken since the landmark Destinations and Reflections*, involving nearly 2000 art and design graduates, ten years ago.

This new study will have greater scope as it will involve more than 25,000 first degree and foundation degree UK and international graduates, up to six years after graduation. A funding partnership of 26 UK higher education institutions and the Council for Higher Education in Art and Design (CHEAD) is commissioning the study. The Project is based at and supported by the University of the Arts London, working with staff at the Institute for Employment Studies (IES) who are undertaking the research.

The study will follow the career development of graduates who left their Universities and Colleges in 2002, 2003 and 2004 and explore their experiences, the extent to which their degree courses prepared them for their working lives, and their future career plans. The methodology will involve a mix of survey activities, including postal and online census questionnaire timed to start in September 2008, followed by more qualitative surveys and telephone interviews, with findings being presented in autumn 2009.

The creative and cultural industries now have an economic importance to the UK economy second only to the financial services sector, and the aim of the study is to provide important evidence of the enduring contribution of art, design, crafts and media graduates to creative capital, to all economic sectors, culture, education and society as a whole.

The findings will critically inform HE provision, going far beyond that currently provided by DLHE data, with additional intelligence about international graduates and their destinations. The project also aims to highlight the valuable work being undertaken by individual HEIs, providing a national context for innovative work at regional level in areas such as employer engagement, entrepreneurship and skills development.

* Blackwell A, Harvey L (1999), Destinations and Reflections: Careers of British art, craft and design graduates, CRQ, UCE.

Further information

For further information about the study, please contact the Project Director, Linda Ball or any of the Project Team:

Linda Ball, Project Director
Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Learning and Teaching in Art and Design, University of the Arts London – 0207 514 9322

Emma Pollard, Project Manager
Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Employment Studies, University of Sussex Campus – 01273 873605

Ian Dumelow, Project Communications Director
University College for the Creative Arts at Farnham

Gill Brown, Project Administrator
Institute for Employment Studies, University of Sussex Campus – 01273 678187