SUCCESS IN THE PROTEAN CAREER: A PREDICTIVE ......Bureau of Statistics, 2005; Caves, 2000; Throsby &...

SUCCESS IN THE PROTEAN CAREER: A PREDICTIVE STUDY OF PROFESSIONAL ARTISTS AND TERTIARY ARTS GRADUATES

Ruth Bridgstock

Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, 2007

Centre for Learning Innovation, Faculty of Education

Queensland University of Technology

KEYWORDS

Career success, protean career, boundaryless career, career development, career

transition, school to work transition, university to work transition, work experience,

higher education, career self-management, career management, career education,

artists, arts graduates, creative industries, creative workforce, graduate attributes,

employability, generic skills, transferable skills, scale development, confirmatory

factor analysis, structural equation modelling, content analysis, decision tree,

regression tree, CART.

iv

ABSTRACT

In the shift to a globalised creative economy where innovation and creativity

are increasingly prized, many studies have documented direct and indirect social and

economic benefits of the arts. In addition, arts workers have been argued to possess

capabilities which are of great benefit both within and outside the arts, including (in

addition to creativity) problem solving abilities, emotional intelligence, and team

working skills (ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation,

2007).

However, the labour force characteristics of professional artists in Australia

and elsewhere belie their importance. The average earnings of workers in the arts

sector are consistently less than other workers with similar educational backgrounds,

and their rates of unemployment and underemployment are much higher (Australian

Bureau of Statistics, 2005; Caves, 2000; Throsby & Hollister, 2003). Graduating

students in the arts appear to experience similar employment challenges and exhibit

similar patterns of work to artists in general. Many eventually obtain work unrelated

to the arts or go back to university to complete further tertiary study in fields

unrelated to arts (Graduate Careers Council of Australia, 2005a).

Recent developments in career development theory have involved discussion

of the rise of boundaryless careers amongst knowledge workers. Boundaryless

careers are characterised by non-linear career progression occurring outside the

bounds of a single organisation or field (Arthur & Rousseau, 1996a, 1996b). The

protean career is an extreme form of the boundaryless career, where the careerist also

possesses strong internal career motivations and criteria for success (Baruch, 2004;

Hall, 2004; Hall & Mirvis, 1996). It involves a psychological contract with one’s self

rather than an organisation or organisations. The boundaryless and protean career

literature suggests competencies and dispositions for career self-management and

career success, but to date there has been minimal empirical work investigating the

predictive value of these competencies and dispositions to career success in the

boundaryless or protean career.

This program of research employed competencies and dispositions from

boundaryless and protean career theory to predict career success in professional

artists and tertiary arts graduates. These competencies and dispositions were placed

into context using individual and contextual career development influences suggested

by the Systems Theory Framework of career development (McMahon & Patton,

1995; Patton & McMahon, 1999, 2006a). Four substantive studies were conducted,

using online surveys with professional artists and tertiary arts students / graduates,

which were preceded by a pilot study for measure development.

A largely quantitative approach to the program of research was preferred, in

the interests of generalisability of findings. However, at the time of data collection,

there were no quantitative measures available which addressed the constructs of

interest. Brief scales of Career Management Competence based on the Australian

Blueprint for Career Development (Haines, Scott, & Lincoln, 2003), Protean Career

Success Orientation based on the underlying dispositions for career success

suggested by protean career theory, and Career Development Influences based on the

Systems Theory Framework of career development (McMahon & Patton, 1995;

Patton & McMahon, 1999, 2006a) were constructed and validated via a process of

pilot testing and exploratory factor analyses. This process was followed by

confirmatory factor analyses with data collected from two samples: 310 professional

artists, and 218 graduating arts students who participated at time 1 (i.e., at the point

of undergraduate course completion in October, 2005).

vi

Confirmatory factor analyses via Structural Equation Modelling conducted in

Study 1 revealed that the scales would benefit from some respecification, and so

modifications were made to the measures to enhance their validity and reliability.

The three scales modified and validated in Study 1 were then used in Studies 3 and 4

as potential predictors of career success for the two groups of artists under

investigation, along with relevant sociodemographic variables.

The aim of the Study 2 was to explore the construct of career success in the

two groups of artists studied. Each participant responded to an open-ended question

asking them to define career success. The responses for professional artists were

content analysed using emergent coding with two coders. The codebook was later

applied to the arts students’ definitions. The majority of the themes could be grouped

into four main categories: internal definitions; financial recognition definitions;

contribution definitions; and non-financial recognition definitions. Only one third of

the definition themes in the professional artists’ and arts graduates’ definitions of

career success were categorised as relating to financial recognition. Responses within

the financial recognition category also indicated that many of the artists aspired only

to a regular subsistence level of arts income (although a small number of the arts

graduates did aspire to fame and fortune).

The second section of the study investigated the statistical relationships

between the five different measures of career success for each career success

definitional category and overall. The professional artists’ and arts graduates’

surveys contained several measures of career success, including total earnings over

the previous 12 months, arts earnings over the previous 12 months, 1-6 self-rated

total employability, 1-6 self-rated arts employability, and 1-6 self-rated self-defined

career success. All of the measures were found to be statistically related to one

another, but a very strong statistical relationship was identified between each

employability measure and its corresponding earnings measure for both of the

samples. Consequently, it was decided to include only the earnings measures

(earnings from arts, and earnings overall) and the self-defined career success rating

measure in the later studies.

Study 3 used the career development constructs validated in Study 1,

sociodemographic variables, and the career success measures explored in Study 2 via

Classification and Regression Tree (CART - Breiman, Friedman, Olshen, & Stone,

1984) style decision trees with v-fold crossvalidation pruning using the 1 SE rule.

CART decision trees are a nonparametric analysis technique which can be used as an

alternative to OLS or hierarchical regression in the case of data which violates

parametric statistical assumptions.

The three optimal decision trees for total earnings, arts earnings and self

defined career success ratings explained a large proportion of the variance in their

respective target variables (R2 between 0.49 and 0.68). The Career building subscale

of the Career Management Competence scale, pertaining to the ability to manage the

external aspects of a career, was the most consistent predictor of all three career

success measures (and was the strongest predictor for two of the three trees),

indicating the importance of the artists’ abilities to secure work and build the external

aspects of a career. Other important predictors included the Self management

subscale of the Career Management Competence scale, Protean Career Success

Orientation, length of time working in the arts, and the positive role of interpersonal

influences, skills and abilities, and interests and beliefs from the Career Development

Influences scale. Slightly different patterns of predictors were found for the three

different career success measures.

viii

Study 4 also involved the career development constructs validated in Study 1,


CART style decision trees. This study used a prospective repeated measures design

where the data for the attribute variables were gathered at the point of undergraduate

course completion, and the target variables were measured one year later. Data from

a total of 122 arts students were used, as 122 of the 218 students who responded to

the survey at time 1 (October 2005) also responded at time 2 (October 2006).

The resulting optimal decision trees had R2 values of between 0.33 and 0.46.

The values were lower than those for the professional artists’ decision trees, and the

trees themselves were smaller, but the R2 values nonetheless indicated that the arts

students’ trees possessed satisfactory explanatory power. The arts graduates’ Career

building scores at time 1 were strongly predictive of all three career success

measures at time 2, a similar finding to the professional artists’ trees. A further

similarity between the trees for the two samples was the strong statistical relationship

between Career building, Self management, and Protean Career Success

Orientation. However, the most important variable in the total earnings tree was arts

discipline category. Technical / design arts graduates consistently earned more

overall than arts graduates from other disciplines. Other key predictors in the arts

graduates’ trees were work experience in arts prior to course completion, positive

interpersonal influences, and the positive influence of skills and abilities and interests

and beliefs on career development.

The research program findings represent significant contributions to existing

knowledge about artists’ career development and success, and also the transition

from higher education to the world of work, with specific reference to arts and

creative industries programs. It also has implications for theory relating to career

success and protean / boundaryless careers.

x

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1 1

Introduction to the Research 1

Background to the Research 1

The Importance of the Arts 1

Artists’ Working Lives 2

Tertiary Arts Graduates’ Transitions to the World of Work 3

Opportunities for Research into Artists’ Careers 5

Definitions of Key Terms 6

Artist 6

Arts Graduate 7

Boundaryless Career 8

Career 8

Career Development Influences 8

Career Management Competencies / Skills, Career Self-Management 9

Career Success 9

Employability 10

Graduate Attributes 10

Graduate Transition to the World of Work 10

Protean Career 11

Protean Career Success Orientation 11

Predictors of Artists’ and Arts Graduates’ Career Success 11

Career Self-Management Skills 12



Research Questions and Overview of the Studies 15

Study 1 16

Study 2 17

Study 3 18

Study 4 19

Research Significance and Contributions 19

Theoretical Contributions 20

Methodological Contributions 21

Substantive Contributions 22

Organisation of the Thesis Document 23

CHAPTER 2 25

Literature Review: Career Development Theory 25

New Conceptions of Career 26

Boundaryless Careers and Employability 27

The Subjective Career 29

The Protean Career 30

Theoretical Understandings of Career Development 33

Structure Theories of Career: Traits and Types 34

Process Theories of Career: Development and the Individual 38

Theories Embracing Structure, Process and Context 43

Recent Developments in Career Theory 50

Calls for Theory Convergence and Integration 50

Systems Theory as an Integrative Theoretical Framework 51

The Development of the Systems Theory Framework of Career Development 53

Chapter Summary 55

CHAPTER 3 56

Literature Review: Career Success and Successful Tertiary Graduate Transitions to the

World of Work 56

Career Success 56

Objective Measures of Career Success 57

xii

Subjective Measures of Career Success 59

The Relationship between Subjective and Objective Measures of Career Success 62

Predictors of Career Success 63

Skills as Predictors of Career Success 67

Career Self-Management Skills as Predictors of Career Success 68

The Australian Blueprint for Career Development 75

Underlying Dispositions and Characteristics as Predictors of Career Success 79

The University to World-of-Work Transition 84


Broadening the Concepts of Graduate Attributes and Employability 87

Predictors of Successful Graduate Transitions to the World of Work 90

Career Self-Management Skills and Underlying Dispositions and Characteristics as Predictors

of Successful Graduate Transitions 90

Contextual Predictors of Successful Transitions 93

Chapter Summary 95

CHAPTER 4 97

Literature Review: Artists’ Careers 97

Definitions of the Artist and the Arts 97

The Arts Sector in Australia 99

The Social and Economic Importance of the Arts 100

Artists’ Career Patterns: A Protean Career in Arts 101

Mobility, Occupational Roles and Sources of Income 103

Personal Responsibility For Career Development 104

Career Motivations and Measures of Success 105

The Protean Tertiary Arts Graduate 108

Predictors of Career Success for Professional Artists and Arts Graduates 110

The Present Program of Study 113

Study 1: Research Question 1 116




Chapter Summary 118

CHAPTER 5 120

Method and Methodological Considerations 120

Data Collection 120

Self-Report Surveys 121

Limitations of Survey Research 122

Online Surveys 124

Ethical Considerations 126

Sampling: Professional Artists 127

Defining ‘Professional Artist’ 127

Artist Categories 128

Current Professional Activity 132

Recruitment 133

Sample Characteristics 134

Sampling: Arts Students 137

Defining ‘Arts Student’ 137

Arts Student Categories 138

Recruitment 138

Sample Characteristics 140

Survey Composition 143


Career Management Competence 146


xiv

Career Success 152

Sociodemographic Variables 153

Analysis Design 157

Study 1 157

Study 2 159

Study 3 161

Study 4 163

Chapter Summary 164

CHAPTER 6 166

Study 1: Development and Validation of Career Development Influences, Protean Career

Success Orientation and Career Management Competence Scales 166

Data Analysis 166

Career Development Influences Scale 167

Data Screening Procedures 167

Confirmatory Factor Analyses: Six Factor Structure 174

Model Respecification 178

Confirmatory Factor Analysis: Respecified Five Factor Structure 184

Protean Career Success Orientation Scale 187


Confirmatory Factor Analyses: Single Factor Structure 191


Confirmatory Factor Analysis: Respecified Single Factor Structure 196

Career Management Competence Scale 197


Confirmatory Factor Analyses: Three Factor Structure 201


Confirmatory Factor Analysis: Two Factor Structure 205

Confirmatory Factor Analysis: Respecified Two Factor Structure 208

Discussion of Findings 210

Career Development Influences Scale 211

Protean Career Success Orientation Scale 213

Career Management Competence Scale 215

Chapter Summary 219

CHAPTER 7 220

Study 2: Definition and Exploration of the Career Success Construct in Professional

Artists and Arts Graduates 220

Content Analysis of Artists’ Definitions of Career Success 221

Content Analysis Procedure 221

Coding of Professional Artists’ Responses 221

Themes in Professional Artists’ Responses 222

Professional Artists’ Broad Career Success Definition Categories 224

Description of Professional Artists’ Definitions of Career Success 227

Internal Definitions 227

Financial Recognition Definitions 228

Non-Financial Recognition Definitions 229

Contribution Definitions 229

Coding of Arts Graduates’ Responses 230

Arts Graduates’ Response Theme Subcategories 230

Description of Arts Graduates’ Definitions of Career Success 232

Internal Definitions 232

Financial Recognition Definitions 233

Non-Financial Recognition Definitions 234

Contribution Definitions 234

Other Definitions 235

xvi

Relationships Between Measures of Career Success 235

Professional Artist Career Success Measure Correlations 236

Arts Graduate Career Success Measure Correlations 240

Discussion 244

Chapter Summary 249

CHAPTER 8 250

Study 3: Prediction of Professional Artists’ Career Success from Career Development

Measures 250

Decision Tree Method 250

Overview of the Decision Tree Method 251

Choice of Algorithms: CART 252

Decision Tree Results 254

Descriptive Statistics for Variables Included in the Analyses 254

Total Earnings Decision Tree Results 262

Arts Earnings Decision Tree Results 264

Self Defined Career Success Rating Decision Tree Results 267

Discussion 270

Total Earnings 273

Arts Earnings 274

Self Defined Career Success Rating 275

Links Between Decision Tree Findings and Extant Literature 276

Chapter Summary 279

CHAPTER 9 281

Study 4: Prediction of Arts Students’ Successful Transitions to Work from Career

Development Influences and Constructs 281

Decision Tree Method 282

Decision Tree Results 283

Descriptive Statistics for Variables Included in the Analyses 283

Total Earnings Decision Tree Results 291

Arts Earnings Decision Tree Results 293

Self Defined Career Success Rating Decision Tree Results 296

Discussion 298

Total Earnings 301

Arts Earnings 302

Self Defined Career Success Rating 303

Links Between Decision Tree Findings and Extant Literature 304

Chapter Summary 310

CHAPTER 10 312

Discussion and Conclusion of the Research Program 312

Overview of the Research Program 312

Study 1 314

Study 2 316

Study 3 318

Study 4 321

Implications for Artists’ Careers 324

Implications for Artists’ Employers / Clients 326

Implications for Universities and Tertiary Students 327

Theoretical Contributions of the Program of Study 329

Factorial Structure of Scales 329

Career Success 332

Predictors of Artists’ and Arts Graduates’ Career Success 333


Methodological Contributions of the Program of Study 335

xviii

Scale Development 335

Decision Trees 336

A Prospective Approach to the Study of Tertiary Graduate Outcomes 336

Limitations of the Research Program 337

Recommendations for Future Research 339

Conclusion 341

REFERENCES 343

LIST OF FIGURES

2.1 The Systems Theory Framework of career development 52

6.1 Path diagram for the hypothesised six factor model of the CDI 168

6.2 Standardised estimates and SMCs for the six factor model:

Professional artists sample

175

6.3 Standardised estimates and SMCs for the six factor model: Arts

students sample

176

6.4 Path diagram for the respecified five factor model of the CDI 181

6.5 Standardised estimates and SMCs for five-factor model of CDI:

Professional artists sample (N = 310)

183

6.6 Standardised estimates and SMCs for five factor model of CDI:

Arts students sample (N = 218)

185

6.7 Path diagram for the hypothesised single factor model of PCSO 188

6.8 Standardised estimates and SMCs for single-factor model of

PCSO: Professional artists sample (N = 310)

191

6.9 Standardised estimates and SMCs for single-factor model of

PCSO: Arts students sample (N = 218)

192

6.10 Path diagram for respecified single factor model of the PCSO 195

6.11 Standardised estimates and SMCs for respecified single-factor

model of the PCSO: Arts students sample (N = 218)

196

6.12 Standardised estimates and SMCs for respecified single-factor

model of the PCSO: Professional artists sample (N = 310)

196

xx

6.13 Path diagram for the hypothesised three factor model of CMC 198

6.14 Standardised estimates and SMCs for three factor model of

CMC: Professional artists sample (N = 310)

202

6.15 Standardised estimates and SMCs for three factor model of

CMC: Arts students sample (N = 218)

203

6.16 Path diagram for the respecified two factor model of CMC 205

6.17 Standardised estimates and SMCs for respecified two factor

model of the CMC: Professional artists sample (N = 310)

207

6.18 Standardised estimates and SMCs for respecified two factor

model of the CMC: Arts students sample (N = 218)

209

8.1 Optimal decision tree for total earnings 262

8.2 Optimal decision tree for earnings from arts 265

8.3 Optimal decision tree for self defined career success rating 268

9.1 Optimal decision tree for total earnings 291

9.2 Optimal decision tree for earnings from arts 294

9.3 Optimal decision tree for self defined career success rating 296

LIST OF TABLES

1.1 The Program of Study By Research Question 17

2.1 Key Attributes of Traditional vs Protean Careers 31

3.1 Significant Predictors of Objective and Subjective Career

Success From 140 Studies

65

3.2 Significant Career Competency Predictors of Marketability and

Career Success in Eby et al.'s (2003) Study

73

3.3 Top-Level Structure of the Australian Blueprint for Career

Development

76

3.4 The Relationship Between ABCD Competencies, Performance

Indicators and Learning Stages: Sample For One Competency

77

4.1 Employment Status of Australian Artists Working From Within

Their Principal Artistic Occupation Versus The General Working

Population

104

5.1 Professional Artist Categories 130

5.2 Professional Artist Sample Sizes by Category 135

5.3 Professional Artist Characteristics: Sample and Population

Statistics

136

5.4 Arts Student Categories by Discipline of Program of Study 138

5.5 Arts Student Characteristics: Sample and Population Statistics 142

5.6 Substantive Research Measures Used to Address Research 144

xxii

Questions in the Present Investigation

5.7 Sociodemographic Research Measures Used in the Present

Investigation

156

5.8 Study 1 Analysis Design 158




6.1 Item Means and Standard Deviations: CDI in Professional Artists

Sample and Arts Students Sample

170

6.2 Inter-item Correlations: CDI in Professional Artists Sample, N =

310

172

6.3 Inter-item Correlations: CDI in Arts Students Sample, N = 218 173

6.4 Fit Indices for Six Factor Model of CDI Using Two Data Sets 178

6.5 Fit Indices for Six Factor Model of CDI and Respecifications:

Professional Artists Sample (N = 310)

182

6.6 Internal Consistency of the Respecified CDI Five Factor Model:

Professional Artists Sample (N = 310)

184

6.7 Fit Indices for Respecified Five Factor Model of CDI with Arts

Students (N = 218)

186

6.8 Internal Consistency of the Respecified CDI Five Factor Model:

Arts Students Sample (N = 218)

187

6.9 Item Means and Standard Deviations: PCSO in Professional 189

Artists Sample and Arts Students Sample

6.10 Inter-item Correlations: PCSO in Professional Artists Sample, N

= 310

190

6.11 Inter-item Correlations: PCSO in Arts Students Sample, N = 218 190

6.12 Fit Indices for Single Factor Model of PCSO 193

6.13 Fit Indices for Single Factor Model of PCSO and

Respecification: Arts Students Sample (N = 218)

195

6.14 Fit Indices for Single Factor Model of PCSO and

Respecification: Professional Artists (N = 310)

197

6.15 Item Means and Standard Deviations: CMC in Professional

Artists Sample and Arts Students Sample

199

6.16 Inter-item Correlations: CMC in Professional Artists Sample, N

= 310

200

6.17 Inter-item Correlations: CMC in Arts Students Sample, N = 218 201

6.18 Fit Indices for Three Factor Model of CMC 204

6.19 Fit Indices for Three Factor Model of CMC and

Respecifications: Professional Artists (N = 310)

206

6.20 Internal Consistency of the Respecified CMC Two Factor

Model: Professional Artists Sample (N = 310)

208

6.21 Fit Indices for Respecified Two Factor Model of CMC with Arts

Students (N = 218)

210

6.22 Internal Consistency of the Respecified CMC Two Factor 210

xxiv

Model: Arts Students Sample (N = 218)

6.23 Final Career Development Influences Scale Items and Factors 211

6.24 Final Protean Career Success Orientation Scale Items and

Factors

214

6.25 Final Career Management Competence Scale Items and Factors 217

7.1 Themes Identified in Professional Artists’ Definitions of Career

Success

224

7.2 Categories of Professional Artists Definitions of Career Success

Themes

225

7.3 Major Elements of Professional Artists’ Definitions of Career

Success

226

7.4 Major Elements of Arts Graduates’ Definitions of Career

Success

232

7.5 Descriptive statistics for professional artists’ success measures 237

7.6 Spearman’s ρ correlation coefficients for professional artists’

success measures

239

7.7 Descriptive statistics for arts graduates’ success measures 241

7.8 Spearman’s ρ Correlation Coefficients for Arts Graduates’

Success Measures

243

8.1 Descriptive Statistics for Target Variables Included in the

Decision Tree Analysis

254

8.2 Descriptive Statistics for Career Development Measure Attribute 256

Variables Included in the Decision Tree Analysis

8.3 Descriptive Statistics for Sociodemographic Attribute Variables

Included in the Decision Tree Analysis

257

8.4 Target Variable Means, Standard Deviations and Nonparametric

Tests of Difference by Categorical Variable Levels

259

8.5 Spearman’s Bivariate Correlation Coefficients for Continuous

and Ordinal Variables Included in the Decision Tree Analysis

260

8.6 Attribute Variables Included in the Decision Trees 261

8.7. Relative Importance Of Variables In Constructing The Optimal

Total Earnings Decision Tree

264

8.8. Relative Importance of Variables in Constructing the Optimal

Earnings from Arts Decision Tree

267


Self Defined Career Success Rating Decision Tree

270

8.10 Summary of Attribute Variable Roles in the Decision Trees 272

9.1 Descriptive Statistics for Target Variables Included in the

Decision Tree Analysis

284

9.2 Descriptive Statistics for Career Development Measure Attribute

Variables Included in the Decision Tree Analysis

285

9.3 Descriptive Statistics for Sociodemographic Attribute Variables

Included in the Decision Tree Analysis

286

9.4 Target Variable Means, Standard Deviations and Nonparametric 288

xxvi

Tests of Difference by Categorical Variable Levels

9.5 Spearman’s Bivariate Correlation Coefficients for Continuous

and Ordinal Variables Included in the Decision Tree Analysis

289

9.6 Attribute Variables Included in the Decision Trees 290


Total Earnings Decision Tree

293

9.8. Relative Importance of Variables in Constructing the Optimal

Earnings from Arts Decision Tree

295


Self Defined Career Success Rating Decision Tree

298

9.10 Summary of Attribute Variable Roles in the Decision Trees 300

LIST OF APPENDICES ON CD

APPENDIX A Online Survey Instruments

APPENDIX B Ethical Clearances

APPENDIX C Participating Artists’ Professional Organisations and Networks

APPENDIX D Pilot Study Information and Exploratory Factor Analyses

xxviii

LIST OF ACRONYMS

ACCI Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry

BCA Business Council of Australia

CART Classification and Regression Tree

CCI ARC Centre for Excellence in Creative Industries and Innovation

CDI Career Development Influences

CMC Career Management Competence

OLS Ordinary Least Squares

PCSO Protean Career Success Orientation

SEM Structural Equation Modelling

STF Systems Theory Framework of career development

LIST OF PUBLICATIONS ARISING FROM THIS RESEARCH

Journal Articles

Bridgstock, R. (2005). Australian artists, starving and well-nourished: What can we

learn from the prototypical protean career? Australian Journal of Career

Development, 14(3), 40-48.

Bridgstock, R. (2007). Development of a brief measure of career development

influences based on the Systems Theory Framework of Career Development.

Australian Journal of Career Development, 16(3), 19-30.

Bridgstock, R. (2008). The graduate attributes we’ve overlooked: Enhancing tertiary

graduate employability through career management skills. Higher Education

Research and Development, in press.

Refereed Conference Papers

Bridgstock, R. (2005). What influences the decision to teach? A quantitative

application of the Systems Theory Framework of career development. Paper

presented at the New Researchers for New Times Conference, Brisbane.

Bridgstock, R. (2006). Follow your (employable) bliss: The challenge of the

Australian creative / performing arts graduate. Paper presented at the

Australian Association of Career Counsellors Conference, Sydney.

Bridgstock, R. (2007). Human capital predictors of career success in the Creative

Industries: A regression tree approach. Paper presented at the EIDOS

EMERGE Conference, Brisbane Powerhouse, Brisbane.

xxx

Bridgstock, R. (2007). Self-motivated and self-managing: Predicting tertiary arts

graduate career success using a prospective regression tree approach. Paper

presented at the AIC Partnership for World Graduates Conference,

Melbourne, November 2007.

Brow, J., Hearn, G., & Bridgstock, R. (2007). 60Sox and the 2bobmob: Mentoring in

an online learning community for Creative Industries graduates. Paper

presented at the AIC Partnership for World Graduates Conference,

Melbourne, November 2007.

Non-Refereed Conference Presentations

Bridgstock, R. (2006). Influences on artists’ career development and success. Poster

presentation at the Institute for Creative Industries and Innovation Research

Symposium, Brisbane.

Bridgstock, R. (2007). Creative workforce: Building a creative capacity. Creative

Workforce Symposium presentation at Digital Literacy and Creative

Innovation in a Knowledge Economy Research Symposium, Brisbane.

STATEMENT OF ORIGINAL AUTHORSHIP

The work contained in this thesis has not previously been submitted for a degree or

diploma at any other higher education institution. To the best of my knowledge and

belief, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by another

person except where due reference is made.

Signed: ......................................................................

Date: .........................................................................

xxxii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Although PhD study is often seen as a solitary journey, numerous people

contributed in meaningful ways to the completion of this project – not to mention

regularly reminding me of the joys in learning to be a researcher. First I would like to

thank my principal supervisor Wendy Patton, who throughout my candidature

encouraged and nurtured my academic growth in the development of this thesis, and

more broadly – providing timely career counselling when necessary!

Many people were instrumental to the data collection process. Dean Bensted

(PHP programmer extraordinaire), the QUT Student Information Systems staff, and

the residents of B Block 5th floor (who participated uncomplainingly in recruitment

material envelope-stuffing parties) spring particularly to mind. Also, without the

timely action of Stephen Towers and the academic staff of the Creative Industries

Faculty at QUT, and also the managers of the participating professional arts

organisations, my sample sizes would have been considerably smaller. Many thanks.

I would also like to thank Erica McWilliam, who kindly provided scholarship

support, part-time research employment, academic mentoring, annual song-and-

dance acts, and reminders when needed that, “girls can do anything!”

Thanks must also go to some of my fellow doctoral candidates. Drs Shane

Dawson, Amanda Mergler, Lee Tennent and Lyndal O’Gorman, and almost-Drs

Jennifer Puay Leng Tan and David Emmett provided invaluable inspiration, support,

advice and numerous cappuccinos during my many long days and nights of PhD

candidature. Finally, I would like to acknowledge the support of my family and

friends outside QUT, without whom this PhD would never have been completed.

This document is dedicated to Michael and approximately 299,999 other

Australian artists, in appreciation of your important creative work.

1

CHAPTER 1

Introduction to the Research

The first chapter of this document provides an overview of the research at

hand, the central aim of which was to explore the value of a number of career

development constructs and influences in predicting career success in artists. Using

samples of professional artists and graduating tertiary arts students, this program of

doctoral research involved a comprehensive exploration of conceptions of career

success held by the samples of artists, and also an investigation of the statistical

relationships between the participants’ definitions and commonly accepted measures

of career success such as earnings. Nonparametric techniques were then employed to

determine the predictive value of a number of constructs suggested by career

development literature to the measures of artistic career success.

This first chapter commences by positioning the present research within the

arts and career development theory milieux. It also provides concise definitions for

specialised terms used in this document.

Background to the Research

The Importance of the Arts

Article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (United Nations,

1948) affirms the right of every human being to freely participate in the cultural life

of the community and to enjoy the arts. The value of artistic participation (both

expression and reception) to individuals is agreed be wide ranging, from enhanced

development of learning skills and academic performance, to improved

psychological and physical health, to greater individual receptivity to new

2

perspectives and tolerance for others (Belfiore & Bennett, 2007; Bryce, Mendelovits,

Beavis, McQueen, & Adama, 2004; McCarthy, Ondaatje, Zakaras, & Brooks, 2004b)

In addition, it is now widely acknowledged that the arts plays a vital role in

contributing to broad social and economic goals, particularly in the worldwide shift

to innovation and knowledge-based economies where creativity and innovation are

increasingly prized (Budd, 1995; Czikszentmihalyi, 1997; Radich, 1992; Stone,

Bikson, Moini, & McArthur, 1999). Many studies document the direct and indirect

economic benefits of the arts to communities, including employment and spending,

and attraction of organisations and people to areas where the arts are available

(Florida, 2003; Heilbrun & Gray, 2001; Myerscough, 1988). In the last few years, the

economic value of creative workers has also increasingly been emphasised. In this

era of the ‘creative workforce’ (ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries

and Innovation, 2007; Florida, 2003), which is often located within the ‘creative

industries’ (Caves, 2000; Cunningham, 2002), and in the broader context of the

‘creative economy’ (Howkins, 2002), artists are argued to possess capabilities which

are of great economic benefit both within and outside the arts, including, in addition

to creativity, problem solving abilities, emotional intelligence, and team working

skills (ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation, 2007;

Moga, Burger, Hetland, & Winner, 1999).

Artists’ Working Lives

Despite ongoing rhetoric regarding the importance of the arts to individuals,

society and the economy, the cultural sector continues to struggle against intense

economic pressures. Very few artistic ventures are profitable, and it is difficult to

predict whether an artistic product or service will become a ‘hit’ (Hodsoll, 2002).

Demand for artistic products appears to be strongly affected by the potential

3

audience’s disposable income levels and previous experience with the arts, and the

political / social forces at play (Levy-Garboua & Montmarquette, 2003; Throsby,

1994a). The sector is highly dependant upon public funding and subsidies, which are

argued to favour certain groups of recipients over others (e.g., opera and ballet as

opposed to orchestras; more conservative works as opposed to experimental ones)

and are also strongly affected by the government’s wider objectives, which vary

markedly by government ideology and over time (Frey, 2003).

The arts sector displays labour force characteristics which have been

described as ‘exceptional’ (Abbing, 2002). The average earnings of workers in the

arts sector are consistently less than other workers with comparable educational and

demographic profiles, and artists also experience much higher rates of

unemployment and underemployment (Australia Council for the Arts, 2005b;

Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2005; Caves, 2000; Throsby & Hollister, 2003).

Artists may be prepared to undertake poorly paid casual or part-time work in an

unrelated field while unemployed or underemployed as an artist in order to sustain

their practice (Papandrea, 2004). Further, economic studies suggest that if artists

receive extra income from any source, they will tend to use this income to work more

hours in arts rather than spend fewer hours working. Faced with the prospect of

additional income, they may even reduce hours at supplementary jobs in order to

maximise time working in their arts practice, resulting in a similar level of income to

before the new income was introduced (Abbing, 2002; Throsby, 1994b).

Tertiary Arts Graduates’ Transitions to the World of Work

There have been fewer studies of the working lives of tertiary arts graduates

than of professional artists, but evidence suggests that graduating arts students

experience similar employment challenges and exhibit similar patterns of work to

4

more established artists. Tertiary courses in the arts and creative industries attract

large and increasing numbers of students, yet arts graduates reaching the world of

work seem to experience very high levels of underemployment and very low

incomes, and many eventually obtain work unrelated to their degrees or go back to

university in order to complete further tertiary study in fields unrelated to arts

(Graduate Careers Council of Australia, 2005a). Other arts graduates persevere,

perhaps willing to sacrifice earnings and career stability in order to continue work in

the arts for non-economic reasons (Throsby, 1994b), or mindful of the very few who

have a big break into arts ‘superstardom’ (Benhamou, 2003; Rengers, 2002).

Recent moves towards making public funding for universities contingent on

positive graduate outcomes (Department of Education Science and Training, 2007b;

Higher Education Funding Council for England, 2002) have meant that universities

are under significant pressure to demonstrate that their students are employable.

Providers of tertiary arts courses are at a disadvantage in this because of the arts

labour market characteristics just described. This disadvantage is compounded by

several issues. First, governments have chosen to define ‘positive graduate

outcomes’ restrictively, as the proportion of graduates in full-time employment four

months after course completion, when the Graduate Destination Survey is

administered (Graduate Careers Council of Australia, 2006b).

Second, universities have approached the issue of graduate employability in a

narrow and limited way, choosing to emphasise in their students the development of

generic / transferable skills (e.g., verbal communication, working with technology)

that might appeal to the widest variety of employers (Australian Chamber of

Commerce and Industry, 2002; Bennett, 2002; Bowden, Hart, King, Trigwell, &

Watts, 2000; Kearns, 2001). While these generic / transferable skills are important, in

5

all probability they only represent a fraction of the influences on graduate

employability (Brown, Hesketh, & Williams, 2003) and other positive graduate

outcomes. Based on this information, the outlook for tertiary arts graduates,

providers of arts education, providers of higher education in general, and the future

creative economy, appears somewhat uncertain.

Opportunities for Research into Artists’ Careers

The preceding descriptions of artists’ and tertiary arts graduates’ careers lead

to a number of questions that are insufficiently addressed by the extant literature.

Some of these questions are: Why do so many artists pursue careers in a profession

where the economic conditions are so unfavourable? Why do many artists invest

heavily in their artistic educations and the creation of works of art when the financial

returns are usually low and unpredictable? Do artists choose arts because they aspire

to a ‘holy grail’ of fame and fortune in arts, or are they motivated by factors

unrelated to financial or non-financial recognition? Is success in the arts just a matter

of being talented and getting a ‘lucky break’, or are there aspects of the artist and

their social or environmental context that systematically predict career success in the

arts? What should universities’ priorities be in supporting their arts students to

achieve positive outcomes?

The program of research presented in this document investigates two

substantive research inquiries emerging from these questions, across four key

research questions. The first inquiry relates to career success in the arts. It

investigates artists’ and arts graduates’ definitions of career success, and explores

how their ratings of self-defined career success relate to established measures of

career success such as earnings and self-assessments of employability. The second

inquiry uses constructs and influences suggested by career development theory to

6

predict career success (using several of the measures explored in the first inquiry) in

the two groups of artists studied. As the result of the findings of the second inquiry,

several key recommendations are able to be made regarding key ways to support and

develop tertiary arts students and professional artists in their careers.

Definitions of Key Terms

The terms presented in this section are frequently used in this thesis, and have

specific meanings which have arisen from the literature (e.g., ‘boundaryless career’)

or have been created by the researcher for the purposes of this study (e.g., ‘protean

career success orientation’). It is therefore worthwhile to define these terms in the

introduction. The terms are presented in alphabetical order for ease of reference.

Each of the terms is clarified further in Chapters 2 through 5 of this document.

Artist

The present program of study uses a definition of ‘artist’ based on previous

work undertaken by: the Australia Council for the Arts (2005b); the Australian

Bureau of Statistics (1997); and, Throsby and Hollister (2003). For the purposes of

the present study, there are four conditions necessary for an individual to meet the

definition of ‘professional artist’, two of which pertain to the nature of artistic

activities undertaken, and two of which pertain to professional practice. They are:

1. The artist is engaged in one or more of the following fields:

(i) creative arts (where the emphasis is on creation of original cultural

expression);

(ii) performing arts (where the emphasis is on creative interpretation of an

existing piece of creative artwork, e.g.. musicians, actors);

7

(iii) community cultural development (where the emphasis is on building a

cultural community through art - Flood, 1998); and

(iv) technical or design arts (where the emphasis is on technical expertise as

well as creative output, e.g., multimedia or fashion design).

2. The artist engages in creative work in at least one of these fields (not only

performing support, administrative, managerial or educational functions).

3. During the last 5 years the artist has created a professional work of art (sold,

performed, exhibited, published, filmed, broadcast or otherwise produced a

professional work), or has received a government or similar grant to produce

a professional artistic work.

4. The artist regards themselves as being engaged in creating a serious and

substantial body of artistic work.

Arts Graduate

Arts graduates in the present study were recruited at the point of course

completion (October, 2005) from relevant Bachelor of Fine Arts, Bachelor of

Creative Industries or Graduate Certificate / Graduate Diploma programs at

Queensland University of Technology. They were eligible to participate at time 1

providing that they were planning to work in the arts during the subsequent year. The

arts students were placed into three occupational categories according to the arts

discipline of their program of study. These categories, as with the professional

artists’ sample, were creative artists, performing artists, and technical artists. A

second data collection procedure was undertaken with these participants one year

after course completion (October, 2006). They were eligible to participate at time 2 if

8

they had attempted to work in arts over the preceding 12 months since course

completion.

Boundaryless Career

The boundaryless career (Arthur, Hall, & Lawrence, 1989; Arthur, Inkson, &

Pringle, 1999; Arthur & Rousseau, 1996a, 1996b) in contrast with a ‘traditional’,

‘hierarchical’, ‘organisational’ career, is one which is not bounded by a single

organisation or field, and is marked by less vertical movement, a less ordered

progression, and less stability. "Put simply, boundaryless careers are the opposite of

‘organisational careers’ - careers conceived to unfold in a single employment setting"

(Arthur & Rousseau, 1996a, p.5).

Career

“[Career is]… the individual’s lifelong progression in learning and work”

(Watts, 1998, p.2), where ‘learning’ can be formal or informal, ‘work’ can include all

paid and unpaid work roles, and ‘progression’ can be any kind of movement which

retains a sense of development. The definition of career has recently been expanded

from being synonymous with an ‘occupation’ to accommodate changes in the work

world (see the definition of ‘boundaryless career’) and subjective notions of career;

that is, that people personally construct their careers and make their own meanings

from them (Collin & Watts, 1996; Herr, 1992; Miller-Tiedeman & Tiedeman, 1990;

Richardson, 1993).

Career Development Influences

Career development influences are key components of the Systems Theory

Framework of career development (McMahon & Patton, 1995; Patton & McMahon,

9

1997, 1999, 2006a). They are the dynamic intrapersonal, social-contextual, and

environmental-contextual factors relevant to the career development process. These

influences are the elements of the individual’s career development system.

Career Management Competencies / Skills, Career Self-Management

Career management skills and competencies are the abilities suggested by

theory to be required in order for an individual to maximise employability and

successfully navigate their own career. Several career management competence

frameworks exist, the most well-known of which is deFillippi and Arthur’s (1994;

1996) competencies for the boundaryless career. These authors posited six classes of

career management competencies: knowing what, knowing where, knowing how,

knowing when, knowing why, and knowing who. However, the most comprehensive

exposition and classification of career management skills for the Australian context

were suggested in the draft Australian Blueprint for Career Development (Haines et

al., 2003).

Career Success

Career success is the accumulated positive work and psychological outcomes

resulting from one’s career experiences (Seibert & Kramer, 2001). Career success

has traditionally been operationalised by variables which can be seen and evaluated

by others, such as salary level or number of promotions, known as ‘objective career

success’ (Judge, Cable, Boudreau, & Bretz, 1995). With recent acknowledgement by

career theorists of the importance of derivation of personal meaning in careers,

‘subjective career success’, the individual’s subjective judgements about their career

attainments (Burke, 2001; Ng, Eby, Sorensen, & Feldman, 2005), has assumed an

increasingly dominant role in the career success literature.

10

Employability

Employability is defined as the careerist’s ability to create or obtain work. It

is work-specific adaptability that enables workers to identify and realise career

opportunities (Fugate, Kinicki, & Ashforth, 2004), an important construct in the

boundaryless career world where job security is becoming rarer and the onus is on

the individual to create a career for themselves. Recently, policy makers have started

to emphasise ‘employability skills’ (Atkins, 1999; Australian Chamber of Commerce

and Industry, 2002; Yorke, 2004), defined as the skills required to maximise

employability. The most common conception of employability skills is transferable

or generic skills which might be useful in a wide range of situations (such as

information literacy, working with technology, and written and verbal

communication).

Graduate Attributes

Graduate attributes are “the qualities, skills and understandings a university

community agrees its students would desirably develop during their time at the

institution and, consequently, shape the contribution they are able to make to their

profession and as a citizen” (Bowden et al., 2000, para 1). Graduate attributes can be

divided into two main categories: (i) those which pertain to an individual’s capacity

for citizenship; and (ii) those which pertain to an individual’s capacity for

employability.

Graduate Transition to the World of Work

Graduate transition is the process involved in moving from higher education

to work upon completion of a tertiary course. Graduate transitions are most

commonly discussed with reference to graduate employability and graduate

11

employment outcomes, but they also involve major life and identity transitions for

most students. The present research operationalises successful graduate transitions in

terms of the subjective and objective career success measures used in this study: total

earnings; earnings from arts; total employability; employability in arts; and, self-

defined career success.

Protean Career

The protean career is an extreme form of the boundaryless career, in

conjunction with strong internal career motivations and measures of success (Baruch,

2004). It involves a psychological contract with one’s self rather than an organisation

or organisations. The protean careerist, taking personal responsibility for their career

development, continually ‘refashions’ themselves according to their personal needs

and demands of the world of work. The term ‘protean’ comes from the name of the

Greek god Proteus, who could change his shape at will.

Protean Career Success Orientation

Seven related underlying attributes or dispositions are commonly argued in

protean career literature to lead to individual career success in the context of the non-

traditional career pattern. These are: strong internal motivations; self-directedness;

proactivity; resilience and adaptability; openness to career opportunities; a positive

self image; and a positive interpersonal orientation. For the purposes of the present

study, these seven underlying attributes comprise protean career success orientation.

Predictors of Artists’ and Arts Graduates’ Career Success

The primary purpose of this research was to investigate the predictive value

of certain constructs and influences suggested by career theory to career success in

artists and tertiary arts graduates. The constructs and influences chosen as predictors

12

arose from relatively recent developments in career theory which have begun to

recognise:

- the changing nature of many careers from linear and organisationally based to

‘boundaryless’ (Arthur & Rousseau, 1996a; Sullivan, 1999) and individually

managed;

- the importance of subjective, holistic and process-oriented views of career;

and,

- shortcomings in extant career development theories which tend to emphasise

only one or a few influences on career development and thus have limited

explanatory power in an exploratory study such as this one.

Career Self-Management Skills

The first group of arts career success predictors chosen for the present

research emerged from discussions of the changing world of work in advanced

economies. Since the mid 1990s, commentators have observed a decline in

traditional organisationally-based careers amongst knowledge workers, and a

corresponding rise in ‘boundaryless’ careers, characterised by lateral or advancing

movements within, between or outside organisations, and various types of paid

employment such as short-term contracts, job-sharing and self-employment (Arthur

& Rousseau, 1996b; deFillippi & Arthur, 1994; Hall, 1996; Knowdell, 1996). The

boundaryless careerist experiences low levels of employment security and cannot

rely on organisationally-based career development opportunities. Chapter 4 of this

thesis presents the argument that a significant number of artists and tertiary arts

graduates experience boundaryless careers.

13

Employability, the ability to create or obtain work, is a central concept to the

boundaryless careerist (e.g., Bridges, 1995; Kanter, 1989; Mirvis & Hall, 1996), who

must constantly look around and ahead for the next suitable career opportunity or

opportunities (Jones & deFillippi, 1996). It follows logically that boundaryless

careerists who possess certain types of skills, such as the ability to effectively

network with professional contacts or locate career-related information, would be

more successful than others.

The career development literature suggests a range of skills or competencies

for successful career self-management in the era of the boundaryless career

(deFillippi & Arthur, 1994, 1996; Hache, Redekopp, & Jarvis, 2000; Haines et al.,

2003; Kuijpers & Scheerens, 2006; Kuijpers, Schyns, & Scheerens, 2006). The

present study used a research-designed survey measure based on the Australian

Blueprint for Career Development (Haines et al., 2003) to investigate whether career

self-management competence predicted career success in the artists and arts

graduates under study.

Protean Career Success Orientation

A deficit in most career self-management skill frameworks is the relative lack

of consideration of dispositional and other psychological characteristics which

underlie the successful development and application of career self-management

skills. This shortcoming is addressed by protean career theory, which emphasises the

dispositions, identities, attitudes and beliefs associated with success in a non-

traditional career (Briscoe & Hall, 2006; Briscoe, Hall, & DeMuth, 2006; Hall &

Chandler, 2005; Hall & Mirvis, 1996).

14

Protean career theory suggests that successful protean careerists possess a

number of related underlying dispositions or attributes. The most commonly

documented of these dispositions include: strong internal motivations (Gagné,

Senecal, & Koestner, 1997); self-directedness (Briscoe & Hall, 2006; Hall &

Chandler, 2005); proactivity (Briscoe et al., 2006; Eby, Butts, & Lockwood, 2003);

resilience and adaptability (Lounsbury et al., 2003); openness to career opportunities

(Chiaburu, Baker, & Pitariu, 2006); a positive self-image (Judge & Bono, 2001); and,

a positive interpersonal orientation (Seibert & Kramer, 2001).

These underlying dispositions are associated with varying degrees of

empirical support, and have also received different levels of attention in the

theoretical literature, as discussed in Chapter 3. The research described in the present

document involved the development and validation of a brief survey measure based

on these dispositions, which was then used to predict career success in the artists’

and arts graduates’ samples.

Career Development Influences

It is of value to place career self-management skills and protean career

success orientation into a theoretical career development context in predicting artists’

and tertiary arts graduates’ career success. However, relatively little is known about

the career development of artists, apart from information from labour market and

economic modelling studies (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2004; Graduate Careers

Council of Australia, 2005a; Throsby & Hollister, 2003). There is little to guide a

choice of one theoretical formulation, particularly considering that many of the

career development theories still focus on only one or a few aspects of the individual,

their context, or processes acting within or between them (Savickas, 2001a, 2001b).

15

The Systems Theory Framework of career development (McMahon & Patton,

1995; Patton & McMahon, 1997, 1999, 2006a), which encompasses all of the

influences described in the major theories, provides a broad, overarching view of the

career development processes acting on and within boundaryless or protean

careerists. As such, it may be used to examine a wide variety of systems and

subsystems relating to career development and success in artists. Protean career

success orientation (Hall, 1976, 1996, 2004; Hall & Mirvis, 1996) and career

management competence (deFillippi & Arthur, 1994, 1996; Hache et al., 2000;

Haines et al., 2003) can then be contextualised into the wider influences on artists’

career development. Data obtained from this broad exploratory stage of study into

the non-traditional career can be used to direct later targeted studies.

A measure of career development influences based on the Systems Theory

Framework of career development (McMahon & Patton, 1995; Patton & McMahon,

1997, 1999, 2006a) was developed and validated as part of the present doctoral

research. Along with career self-management competence, protean career success

orientation and a number of sociodemographic variables, this brief scale was then

employed in the exploration of predictors of career success in artists and arts

graduates.

Research Questions and Overview of the Studies

Four substantive studies were conducted in this program of research, using an

online survey method with professional artists and tertiary arts students / graduates.

These studies were preceded by a pilot study which assisted in the development of

the research instruments (refer to Appendix D for details). The first study examined

the psychometric properties of researcher-designed survey measures of the career

development constructs and influences under investigation: Career Management

16

Competence; Protean Career Success Orientation; and Career Development

Influences. The second study explored the notion of career success in the two

samples of participants. Studies 3 and 4 determined which of the measured career

development constructs and influences predicted artistic career success in the two

groups. Table 1.1 presents an outline of the four studies comprising this program of

research.

Study 1

The first study answered the research question: Are the following researcher

constructed measures sufficiently valid and reliable when used with the study

samples?

a) career development influences; b) protean career success orientation; c) career

management competence.

No quantitative measures were available to address the constructs of interest,

so brief scales based on theory were constructed and validated via pilot testing and

exploratory factor analyses, followed by confirmatory factor analyses via Structural

Equation Modelling with data collected from the artist groups: 310 professional

artists, and the 218 graduating arts students who participated at time 1 (i.e., at the

point of course completion). Confirmatory factor analyses revealed that the scales

would benefit from respecification, so changes were made to the measures to

enhance their validity and reliability. The three scales modified and validated in

Study 1 were then employed in Studies 3 and 4 as potential predictors of career

success for the two cohorts of artists under investigation, along with relevant

sociodemographic variables.

17

Table 1.1

The Program of Study by Research Question Study Research Question Samples Measures Analysis

Techniques

1 Are the following researcher constructed measures sufficiently valid and reliable when used with the study samples? a) career development influences b) protean career success orientation c) career management competence

Professional artists Arts students at time 1 (at course completion)

Career Development Influences Protean Career Success Orientation Career Management Competence

Confirmatory factor analysis Reliability analysis

2 How can career success in the arts be defined?

Professional artists Arts students at time 2 (one year after course completion)

Career Success Content analysis Descriptive statistics

3 Which of the measured career development influences and constructs predict career success in professional artists?

Professional artists

Career Development Influences Protean Career Success Orientation Career Management Competence Career Success Sociodemographic variables

Decision tree analysis

4 Which of the measured career development influences and constructs measured at undergraduate course completion predict successful transition to the world of arts work?

Arts students at time 1 (at course completion) Arts students at time 2 (one year after course completion)

Career Development Influences Protean Career Success Orientation Career Management Competence Career Success Sociodemographic variables

Decision tree analysis

Study 2

The second study of the program of research answered the research question:

How can career success in the arts be defined? Two research subquestions were

addressed in this study, namely: (i) What are the artists’ definitions of career

success? and (ii) What is the statistical relationship between the measures of career

success employed in the present study? The broader aim of the study was to identify

18

the career success measures which would be most appropriate to use in the ensuing

two studies.

The professional artists’ and arts graduates’ surveys contained several

measures of career success, including: (i) total earnings over the previous 12 months;

(ii) arts earnings over the previous 12 months; (iii) 1-6 self-rated total employability;

(iv) 1-6 self-rated arts employability; and (v) 1-6 self-rated self-defined career

success. Each participant also responded to an open-ended question asking them to

define career success.

The responses for professional artists were content analysed using emergent

coding with two coders. The codebook was later applied to the arts students’

definitions. Once themes emerged, sociodemographic differences in career success

definitions were explored.

The second section of the study investigated the statistical relationships

between the five different measures of career success for each career success

definitional category and overall. Nonparametric Spearmans correlation procedures

were used to do this.

Study 3

Study 3 answered the research question: Which of the measured career

development influences and constructs predict career success in professional artists?

The study used the career development constructs validated in Study 1,


Classification and Regression Tree (CART - Breiman et al., 1984) style decision

trees with v-fold crossvalidation pruning using the 1 SE rule. CART decision trees

are a nonparametric analysis technique which can be used as an alternative to OLS or

19

hierarchical regression in the case of data which violates parametric statistical

assumptions. In the regression trees, the Protean Career Success Orientation scale

(PCSO), Career Management Competence scale (CMC), Career Development

Influences scale (CDI), career success definitions, and sociodemographic measures

for the 310 artists were entered as attribute (predictor) variables, and the career

success measures were entered as target (criterion) variables.

Study 4

Study 4 answered the research question: Which of the measured career

development influences and constructs measured at undergraduate course

completion predict successful transition to the world of arts work? Like Study 3, this

study used the career development constructs validated in Study 1, sociodemographic

variables, and the career success measures explored in Study 2 via CART style

decision trees. However, unlike Study 3, which employed a cross-sectional design

where professional artists provided data regarding the attribute (predictor) and target

(criterion) variables at once, Study 4 used a prospective repeated measures design

where the data for the attribute variables were gathered at the point of undergraduate

course completion and the target variables were measured one year later. Data from a

total of 122 arts students were used, as 122 of the 218 students who responded to the

survey at time 1 (October 2005) also responded at time 2 (October 2006).

Research Significance and Contributions

The research program findings represent significant contributions to existing

knowledge, in terms of theory relating to career success, the nature of protean and

boundaryless careers, career self-management competence, and the relationships

between various influences on artists’ career development. In addition, through the

20

development of three brief scales, the use of a one-year prospective approach to

investigate career outcomes in tertiary graduates, and the application of CART style

decision trees (Breiman et al., 1984) for nonparametric prediction, strong

methodological contributions are made. Further, as indicated below, the research

makes substantive contributions to what is known about artists’ career development

and success, and also the transition from higher education to the world of work, with

specific applicability to arts and creative industries programs.

Theoretical Contributions

The program of study contributes to theory in four key ways. First, the

confirmed factorial structures of the three measures as examined in Study 1 provide

insights into the nature of career self-management competence, the dispositions and

attributes argued to underlie the development and application of these competencies,

and the relationships between influences acting within an individual’s career

development system.

Second, the findings of Study 2 extend theory pertaining to career success in

arts, and in the protean career more broadly. The nature of subjective career success

in artists was explored, and links investigated between subjective career success and

other aspects of the artist (such as age and gender), and also objective measures of

career success such as earnings. Some previous work investigating the nature of

subjective and objective career success has been conducted (Arthur, Khapova, &

Wilderom, 2005; Heslin, 2005), but Study 2 described in this document is amongst

the first to explore subjective and objective career success amongst careerists

navigating non-traditional, non-organisationally based careers.

21

Third, Studies 3 and 4 contribute to knowledge regarding connections

between career self-management skills, career motivations and measures of success,

and career success in the non-traditional career. Recent theoretical literature suggests

that links between these constructs may exist (e.g., Hall & Chandler, 2005), and the

simple correlations and decision trees depicted in Chapters 8 and 9 empirically

demonstrate these relationships.

Fourth, the program of study makes contributions to extant theory regarding

graduate attributes, extending the notion of ‘employability skills’ (Atkins, 1999;

Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, 2002; Yorke, 2004) to include a

broader range of competencies and attributes which are linked with positive graduate

outcomes. The present studies show that there are a range of important influences on

graduate outcomes beyond the discipline-specific and transferable skills for

employability commonly discussed in the graduate attributes literature (Bennett,

2002; Bowden et al., 2000; Dahlgren, Hult, Dahlgren, af Segerstad, & Johansson,

2006; Garcia-Aracil, Mora, & Vila, 2004).

Methodological Contributions

The present program of study developed and validated three brief quantitative

scales. No quantitative measures relating to: (i) career self-management competence;

(ii) underlying dispositions and attributes for career success; or (iii) broad influences

on career development, existed at the time of writing. The scales developed in this

research can be further refined and used in subsequent research studies.

Second, the research demonstrated that a one-year, online, prospective

approach to investigate career outcomes in tertiary graduates is possible and that it

can yield valuable information regarding graduate outcomes and also regarding links

22

between skills and knowledge developed at university and post-graduation success.

The prospective one-year approach provides clear advantages over the limited

graduate data collection procedures currently undertaken 4 months after course

completion (Graduate Careers Council of Australia, 2006b).

The use of CART style decision trees (Breiman et al., 1984) for prediction of

career success in the artists under study is also an important contribution to research

methodology. Although decision trees are well known in data mining, and fields as

diverse as law, science and medicine (Furnkrantz, Petrak, & Trappl, 1997; Gibb,

Auslander, & Griffin, 1993; Yohannes & Webb, 1999), they have not commonly

been employed in the social sciences. Decision tree methodologies may prove useful

when the data shows serious violations of the statistical assumptions needed for

parametric regression modelling. Decision trees can also can be used as effective

profiling tools, for instance to identify arts students who may be at risk of poor

graduate outcomes and therefore will require additional support during a tertiary

program in arts.

Substantive Contributions

The studies described in this document add to what is known about artists’

and arts graduates’ experiences and beliefs regarding their careers. This is a

significant addition to the literature which has hitherto largely been restricted to

economic modelling research (Menger, 1999, 2001; Rengers, 2002; Rengers &

Madden, 2000) and small scale, predominantly qualitative studies (Brooks &

Daniluk, 1998; Stohs, 1991). The present research identifies influences and

constructs which can enhance career outcomes for professional artists and tertiary

arts graduates, and also identifies constructs and influences which represent risk

23

factors to artists’ career development and success. Minimal systematic quantitative

research into these issues had previously been undertaken.

There are strong practical implications arising from the research for career

education in the arts, tertiary arts / creative industries education programs, and also

for employers wishing to capitalise on the desirable creative workforce skills and

abilities artists possess. The research raises broader issues about the importance of

career education, the responsibilities of universities in preparing students for the

world of work, and the roles of artists in the creative economy and contemporary

society.

Organisation of the Thesis Document

Chapter 1 presented a discussion of the background and context to the

research program, including the social and economic importance of the arts to

knowledge-based economies, and the working patterns and career challenges faced

by professional artists and tertiary arts graduates. In addition, it provided concise

definitions of the specialised terms used in this thesis document. An overview of the

research questions and the techniques used to answer these questions was included,

and also a short section outlining the significance of the research.

Chapters 2 through 4 review the literature pertinent to the present research.

Chapter 2 commences by examining career development theory, including recent

moves towards theory convergence and integration, and recognition of new patterns

of career in advanced economies. Chapter 3 outlines extant literature relating to

career success and successful tertiary graduate transitions to the world of work.

Chapter 4 relates the theory discussed in Chapters 2 and 3 to the career development

and career success of artists and tertiary arts students.

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The methodological issues relating to this program of research are presented

in Chapter 5. Considerations relating to online survey research comprising both

qualitative and quantitative approaches are discussed, and ethical issues arising in the

research are also reviewed. This chapter also summarises the research design and

analyses used in the research, along with sampling of the professional artist and arts

graduate participants.

Chapters 6 through 9 report the findings of the four studies conducted in this

research program. Chapter 6 relates to Study 1, the primary aim of which was to

examine the psychometric properties of the researcher-designed measures with the

participants under study. Chapter 7 pertains to Study 2, which explored the construct

of career success with relation to the professional artists and arts graduates. Chapter

8 outlines Study 3, which assessed the predictive value of the career development

constructs and influences explored in Study 1 to career success in professional artists

using a decision tree approach. Chapter 9 summarises Study 4, which involved the

use of a decision tree approach to assess the predictive value of the career

development influences and constructs explored in Study 1 to career success in

tertiary arts graduates.

Finally, Chapter 10 discusses the research findings and broader implications

of the findings for artists’ careers, protean and boundaryless careers, career

development theory, higher education, and research methods. Limitations of the

current studies and possible future research projects are also included.

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CHAPTER 2

Literature Review: Career Development Theory

This chapter, in conjunction with Chapters 3 and 4, provides a theoretical

basis for this program of study. The aim of the present chapter is to present an

overview of career development theory. It commences by exploring recent changes

in conceptions of career, and the challenges inherent in the new ‘boundaryless’

(Arthur et al., 2005; Arthur & Rousseau, 1996a; deFillippi & Arthur, 1994, 1996;

Sullivan, 1999) career pattern. Current theories of career development are then

considered, and placed into context using the Systems Theory Framework of career

development (McMahon & Patton, 1995; Patton & McMahon, 1997, 1999, 2006a), a

meta-theoretical framework which provides an overarching frame for existing career

development theories. A measure based on the Systems Theory Framework is

developed and employed as part of this program of research, in order to investigate

the predictive value of a broad range of career development influences on artists’

career success.

Chapter 3 presents a discussion of current thinking about career success,

including a critical review of the various skills and dispositions suggested by various

theorists to be necessary for careerists to flourish in an era of ‘employability security’

(Opengart & Short, 2002) rather than employment security. The emphasis on

employability has extended to the tertiary education sector, with universities being

placed under increasing pressure to demonstrate positive graduate outcomes. Chapter

3 concludes by giving an overview of the strategies currently undertaken by

universities to facilitate student transitions to the workforce and promote graduate

employability.

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Chapter 4 examines the literature surrounding the career development of

artists, and connects career development theories and constructs outlined in chapters

2 and 3 to the unusual circumstances of arts careers. Using labour force statistics and

published studies of artists’ working lives, the career patterns of professional artists

and tertiary arts graduates are examined. Links with boundaryless and protean career

theory, career success theory, and graduate employability theory are made. Chapter 4

concludes with a discussion of the research questions to be addressed in this program

of research. It has the overall objective of investigating which, if any, of several

potentially relevant career development constructs predict professional artists’ career

success and arts graduates’ successful transition to the workforce.

New Conceptions of Career

Like many good words in the English language, the term [career] is richly

ambiguous. It can describe a neat progression up the hierarchy; but we also

refer to ‘careering about’ (Watts, 1998, p.2).

The concept of career has traditionally been synonymised with ‘occupation’,

or ‘vocation’, and has been associated with professional paid work involving linear

advancement within one field, or even one organisation (Adamson, Doherty, &

Viney, 1998; Arthur et al., 1989). This idea of career has recently expanded and

developed in line with changes to: (i) the way work is structured and organised

(Arnold & Jackson, 1997), known as the ‘boundaryless career’ (Arthur et al., 2005;

Arthur & Rousseau, 1996a; deFillippi & Arthur, 1994, 1996; Sullivan, 1999); and (ii)

more developed understandings of the ways that people personally construct their

working lives and obtain meaning from them, termed the ‘subjective career’ (Collin

& Young, 1986, 2000; Miller-Tiedeman, 1999a; Peiperl, Arthur, Goffee, & Morris,

2000; Savickas, 2001a; Savickas, 2002; Watts, 1998).

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Boundaryless Careers and Employability

The current career development literature contains much discussion of the

changing world of work in most advanced economies (e.g., Arnold, 1997; Arnold et

al., 2005; Collin & Young, 2000; Hall, 1996). These changes have been attributed to

technological advances and the shift to a post-industrial ‘knowledge economy’,

globalisation, deregulation of labour markets, changing workforce demographics,

and a rise in post-compulsory education (Niles, Edwin, & Hartung, 2001; Storey,

2000). They have been noted to particularly affect knowledge workers (Peiperl,

Arthur, & Anand, 2002; Peiperl et al., 2000; Royal & Althauser, 2003; Sullivan,

1999), and those who work primarily with information or who develop and use

knowledge in the workplace (Drucker, 1995).

By the mid 1990s, alternatives to the traditional linear career ‘bounded’ by

orderly employment arrangements and upward progress through a single firm or

occupation were increasingly discussed (Arthur & Rousseau, 1996b; deFillippi &

Arthur, 1994; Hall, 1996; Knowdell, 1996). As McMahon, Patton and Tatham (2003,

p.5) note, “work is often no longer characterised by a s

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