Addressing the Poor Professional Outcomes of Undergraduate Arts Students

While higher arts education programs may be preparing students to excel at the creation and performance of the arts, evidence suggests that many of these programs are failing to prepare students for the business of being a professional artist. In the United States, Discipline-Based Arts Education (DBAE) remains the prevailing program theory guiding the majority of higher arts education programs. While there is much praise for DBAE throughout higher education, scholarly discourse and evidence suggests a need to adapt DBAE to better address the poor professional outcomes of undergraduate arts students.Evidence indicates that a total of 11.1% of all recent college graduates with undergraduate arts degrees are unemployed (Carnevale, Cheah, & Strohl, Hard Times: College Majors, Unemployment and Earnings, 2012, p. 7). Fifty two percent of arts undergraduate alumni reported being dissatisfied with their institution’s ability to advise them about further career or education opportunities (SNAAP, 2012, p. 14). 81% of all arts undergraduate alumni reported having a primary job outside of the arts for reasons of job security (SNAAP, 2012, p. 19). Higher arts education administrators have tried to address these statistics by incorporating the teaching of applicable non-arts (business, entrepreneurship, artist survival) skills into undergraduate arts programs. However, evidence suggests that the limitations of DBAE, lack of contextual consensus on educational goals, and stakeholder pressures and agendas make it difficult for administrators to create adequate curricular room for the teaching and learning of non-arts skills. Furthermore, the National Office of Arts Accreditation (NOAA) classifies non-arts skills as “general studies units”, and only recommends but does not mandate any standards associated with the teaching of general studies units.In response to the call for higher arts education reform, this paper discusses potential causal factors of poor professional outcomes of undergraduate arts students, and proposes an alternative to DBAE that may address those outcomes.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Theatre Arts-Arts Administration

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Akron

Year dc:date

2013

Author dc:creator

• White, Jason C.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Pope, Durand
• Koskey, Kristin L.K.

• Art Education
• Arts Management
• Curriculum Development
• Educational Leadership
• Educational Evaluation
• Higher Education Administration
• Higher Education
• arts
• higher arts education
• arts education
• art
• policy
• fine art
• fine arts
• jason christophe
• jason white
• undergraduate
• outcomes
• evaluation
• arts evaluation
• theory
• art education theory
• dance
• theatre
• drama
• visual art
• music
• students

Statement dc:rights

• unrestricted
• This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws.

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1365886713

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:etd.ohiolink.edu:akron1365886713