ERIC Number: EJ1441021
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2024-Oct
Pages: 20
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1474-0222
EISSN: EISSN-1741-265X
Arts Employability and Extracurricular Communities of Practice: A Case Study of the University of Melbourne's Creative Community Connections
Arts and Humanities in Higher Education: An International Journal of Theory, Research and Practice, v23 n4 p350-369 2024
Developing student employability is a key strategy within institutions of higher education, particularly for students in creative industries where labour market supply has outpaced employer demand. Existing literature shows that activities that promote communities of practice offer clear employability benefits for students. However, such activities are often centred within university curriculum or driven by career development units with limited student engagement. This article considers an alternative approach, an academically-supported career community delivered as an extracurricular activity within an arts and cultural management graduate program at the University of Melbourne. Drawing on program metrics and an anonymous survey of participants in the program's pilot iteration, we find evidence of a flexible career community built around the intelligent career theory tenets of "knowing how" and "knowing whom," in which participants experienced positive and discipline-specific impacts related to employability and increased self-confidence in approaching the arts and cultural labour market.
Descriptors: Communities of Practice, Extracurricular Activities, Employment Potential, Foreign Countries, Higher Education, Creativity, Art Education, Administrator Education, Graduate Study, Universities, Industry, Cultural Education
SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2993
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Australia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A