Career Management in the Creative and Cultural Industries: An exploratory study of individual practices and strategies

Abstract

This study presents insights on career management in the creative and cultural industries in Scotland with detailed exploration into practices and strategies employed by cultural workers. Following a phenomenological approach, the study has used subjective data of individual career experiences and interpreted them into objective patterns of career management. Using qualitative research interviews and thematic analysis, the doctoral study explored the career management experiences of thirty six cultural workers and identified particular strategies adopted in the self-management of precarious and unpredictable careers. Employment in the creative and cultural industries is with precarious which constitutes a specific environment for career management and career progression. Not enough is known about the ways in which cultural workers manage their careers in these circumstances. The aim of this study was to understand the realities of contemporary career management in the creative and cultural industries and to identify particular practices and strategies in which creative careers might be managed. Beyond the scholars in this field, this research is of interest to cultural workers, policy makers in the creative and cultural industries more broadly and higher education institutions preparing graduates for work in the creative and cultural industries. The empirical evidence gathered can better inform cultural workers of effective career management strategies and propose policy interventions that would facilitate effective career management and career management education. Key findings focus on the use of online / social media within creative careers and how such activity takes place; the development of a new harmony between art and economic logics and the application of development based career strategies in creative careers, with cultural workers being more managerial than they even recognise themselves. The findings from this study offers confirmation to what is already known about careers in the creative and cultural industries, greater depth and detail to what is already known and extend understanding about the relationship disconnect between individual career Career Management in the Creative and Cultural Industries Abstract management strategies and the policies designed to support cultural workers – policies which focus on growth and development of the industry but not those individuals who make up the industry. Exploration of the phenomenon of career management in the creative and cultural industries requires further research, which could include: alternative methodologies to elicit perceptions based on the findings from this study, deeper exploration into both the difference in career management within the creative and cultural industries and the emerging relationship between art and economic logic.