Earnings and Career Paths of Creative Arts Graduates

Abstract

Since 2018, analysis of the Longitudinal Educational Outcomes (LEO) dataset, a linked administrative dataset created by the UK government, has estimated the “returns” to higher education – the difference in income for graduates compared to those that don’t attend University, and variations in graduate incomes. These have been found to vary according to the kind of institution attended, the graduate’s social class origin, gender and ethnicity, and the subject(s) that they studied. 

Particular attention has been paid to graduates of creative arts degrees (including art and design, performing arts and media studies) whose earnings are lower than graduates in other subjects. These findings have been linked to suggestions that the government should reduce the number of places on degrees that did not offer high graduate earnings, additional cuts that predominantly affect creative arts degrees, and announcements of programme closures by several universities in the creative arts.

This presentation will present analysis of the earnings of creative graduates. It will explore social inequalities and differences by type of educational institution in earnings and career outcomes, and whether earnings are associated with work within Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs), in Education (a common destination for creative graduates) or elsewhere. 

Using cross-classified multilevel modelling, the presentation will explore the partitioning of variance in earnings. Analysis of distributions of earnings exposes inequalities in different areas of the earnings distribution. 

Intersectional multilevel analysis (MAIHDA) demonstrates the social patterning of the difference to earnings that a creative degree makes for different social strata. This research builds on Orian’s previous research on social mobility in creative occupations and social inequalities in the creative economy, and on precarity in creative work.

Bio

Orian Brook is Chancellor’s Fellow in Social Policy at the University of Edinburgh. She researches social and spatial inequalities, focusing on the creative economy. She is co-author of "Culture is Bad for You," published by Manchester University Press, and "A Class Act," an analysis of inequalities in creative education published in collaboration with The Sutton Trust.