Scottish Government

DTZ Consulting & Research was commissioned by the Scottish Executive Cultural Policy Division to investigate the link between those who study arts subjects at school and later employability. Study objectives were addressed through a data matching exercise, using the Scottish School Leavers Survey ( SSLS) and Scottish Qualification Authority ( SQA) datasets. Arts subjects considered included art and design, craft and design, drama, graphic communication and music.

Main Findings

• Students taking arts subjects are slightly less likely to have a father in work or working in more highly skilled occupations. Students studying graphic communication are more likely to come from higher socio-economic backgrounds and students of craft and design from lower socio-economic backgrounds.
• Amongst young people leaving school at the earliest opportunity, employability is generally higher for those that had studied arts subjects. Students leaving school at an early stage having taken arts subjects are less likely to find themselves in a negative labour market position 3 years later, compared to the average young person leaving school early.
• For those that studied arts subjects, the type of employment gained after leaving school is less likely to be highly-skilled or managerial in nature, compared to those that did not study arts subjects. However, when type of employment is controlled for the number of years spent in school, young people that studied arts subjects are no less likely to gain employment in highly skilled jobs in professional, managerial or technical areas.
• When employability is controlled for the number of years spent in school, young people that studied arts subjects tend to have higher employability and are more likely to maintain employment than those that did not study arts subjects. In addition, young people who took 2 or more arts subjects at standard grade tend to have a higher rate of employment than those who took only 1 arts subject.
• Young people, and in particular young men, taking arts subjects and leaving school at the earliest opportunity are among those least likely to progress to further or higher education after leaving school.
• As young people take more arts subjects the likelihood of working in the creative and cultural sector increases. This varies however depending on the subject studied: young people who took craft and design at standard grade are more likely to work in the creative and cultural sector than those taking the other arts subjects, whereas students taking music at standard grade are least likely to work in the creative or cultural sector.
• Confidence is influenced by socio-economic background and gender with young people from higher socio-economic backgrounds and young females having higher levels of confidence. After confidence was controlled for socio-economic background and gender, young people who took arts subjects are slightly less confident than those who did not take any arts subjects.
• However, among students studying arts subjects, those studying drama or music appear to be most confident: confidence among those who studied drama was higher than for young people who did not study any arts subjects. Those studying craft and design appear to be least confident.

Study Objectives

The aims of this study were as follows:

• To identify if there is a link between what subjects young people study at school and their later employability;
• To identify if there is a link between what subjects young people study at school and their later type of employment;
• To compare employability and type of employment between those pupils who studied arts subjects and those who did not;
• To establish the proportion of students studying arts subjects who progress to further/higher education or employment in the cultural or creative industries; and
• To ascertain whether there is a difference in the levels of confidence felt by students who studied arts subjects at school and those who did not.

Definitions

The study brief, outlining the scope for this study, specified that arts subjects are those that fall within the creative industries definition used by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport ( DCMS). This includes advertising, architecture, the art and antiques market, crafts, design, designer fashion, film and video, interactive leisure software, music, the performing arts, publishing, software and computer games, television and radio.

Arts subjects considered in the study included art and design, craft and design, drama, graphic communication and music.

Employability is ultimately based upon 4 fundamental pillars:

• Gaining initial employment;
• Maintaining employment;
• Obtaining new employment; and
• Quality of work or employment.

All findings in this report are based on robust sample sizes. This report uses information for 11,699 young people across two cohorts, or groups of young people.

Socio-economic Background

Students taking arts subjects are slightly less likely to have a father in full-time employment and slightly more likely to have a father who is unemployed or sick/disabled than students who did not take any arts subjects.

Amongst students taking arts subjects, those taking drama are most likely to have a father who is unemployed or sick/disabled and least likely to have a father who is in full-time employment.

Conversely, students taking graphic communication are least likely to have a father who is unemployed and most likely to have a father who is in full-time employment.

Students taking arts subjects are less likely to have a father who is a professional or a manager than students not taking any arts subjects.

Students taking craft & design are most likely to have a father who is an unskilled manual worker and least likely to have a father who is a professional or manager, followed by students taking drama.

Students taking at least 2 arts subjects and having a father who is not a professional or a manager are most likely to have applied for jobs in the last 4 weeks and to be looking for a full-time job.

Link between Subjects Studied at School and Later Employability

When taking into account those who left school at the earliest opportunity, unemployment and Not in Education, Employment or Training ( NEET) rates are amongst the lowest and employment rate is amongst the highest for those who took music or graphic communication

Converse results apply to art and design and drama, showing high unemployment and NEET rates and low employment rates.

Music and graphic communication show positive results in terms of unemployment, NEET and employment rates, whereas the corresponding figures for art and design and drama are significantly less encouraging.

Students taking 1 or 2 or more arts subjects and leaving school at an early stage are less likely to be unemployed or NEET and more likely to be in employment than the average young person 3 years after leaving school.

Link Between Subjects Studied at School and Later Type of Employment

Students taking arts subjects and leaving school at the earliest opportunity are significantly more likely to work in craft-related occupations and slightly less likely to work in elementary occupations than those not taking arts subjects.

As the number of years since leaving school increases:

• The proportions of those leaving school at a later stage working in highly skilled occupations increases significantly; and
• The proportion of young people employed in craft and related occupations falls but the fall is less marked for those that studied arts subjects, suggesting that young people studying arts are more likely to enter craft and related jobs earlier and remain within the vocation.

Clear trends have not emerged when investigating industrial employment of students after leaving school.

Employability and Type of Employment of Those Students Taking and Those Not Taking Arts Subjects

The rate of employment appears higher among young people leaving school at a later stage who took arts subjects, compared to those who did not take arts subjects.

Students who took at least 2 arts subjects at standard grade tend to have a higher rate of employment than those who took only 1 arts subject.

Students who took arts subjects, left school at the earliest opportunity and gained employment 1 year after leaving school, are less likely to become unemployed over the next years than the average young person and than those who did not take arts subjects.

No clear pattern emerged from the income data on differences in wages amongst those who studied arts and other students.

Students Progressing to Further/Higher Education and Employment in Creative Industries

Those least likely to progress to further or higher education after leaving school include:

• Students taking 2 or more arts subjects and leaving school at the earliest opportunity, and
• Young men taking 2 or more arts subjects and leaving school at a later stage.

The proportion of young women continuing their education after taking 2 or more arts subjects and leaving school at a later stage is lower than the average young person but notably higher than their male counterparts.

As more arts subjects are taken together, the likelihood of a young person working in the creative and cultural sector increases.

Young people who took craft and design at standard grade are more likely to work in the creative and cultural sector than those taking the other 4 arts subjects, whereas students taking music are least likely to work in the creative or cultural sector.

Levels of Confidence of Those Students Taking & Those Not Taking Arts Subjects

Those taking at least 1 arts subject or no arts subjects are slightly more confident as a group than students who took more than 2 arts subjects.

Among students studying arts subjects, those studying drama appear to be most confident, more than those taking other arts subjects or those taking no arts subjects at all; whereas those studying craft and design appear to be least confident.

Students whose father is a professional or manager are generally more confident than students whose father is not a professional or manager.

After controlling for parental background, generally those who study arts subjects do not demonstrate higher levels of confidence, but there is a clear link between drama and music and high levels of confidence.

Females generally tend to be slightly more confident than males. Females not studying arts subjects are the most confident, whereas females taking at least two arts subjects are least confident.

Conclusions

Labour market outcomes and employability of young people who leave school at the earliest opportunity appear to be improved by studying arts subjects at school. Furthermore, young people who study arts are more likely to maintain employment, work in crafts and related jobs and are overall no less likely to work in highly skilled jobs compared to other young people that left school in the same year.

National Priorities issued by the Scottish Executive outline outcomes underpinning each of the national priorities and provides progress measures. Progress towards the priority to equip pupils with foundation skills, attitudes and expectations to prosper, will be partly measured by the proportion of school leavers destined for employment, training and continuing education. The apparent improvement in labour market outcomes and employability of young people that studied arts subjects may therefore contribute towards the national priorities.

The Scottish Executive response on the Cultural Review (2006) places an emphasis on choice and flexibility to help Scotland's culturally talented young people. Our findings support this emphasis with a diverse range of career routes across arts subjects.

Overall those taking arts subjects are less likely to progress to further or higher education after leaving school. Young people that studied arts subjects at school are more likely to enter employment with a higher proportion working in creative and cultural jobs compared to young people who did not study arts subjects.

In general young people who took arts subjects appear to be slightly less confident than those who did not take arts subjects, even after parental background and gender are controlled for. However, those studying drama and music appear to be more confident with confidence levels higher than young people who did not study any arts subjects, regardless of socio-economic background.

The clear link between drama and music and high levels of confidence is an important and positive finding. Arts students would be expected to have lower levels of confidence, as they are more likely to come from lower socio-economic backgrounds. However, young people from lower socio-economic backgrounds gaining confidence at school, as demonstrated by drama or music students, are more likely to enjoy higher salaries and enter professional or managerial jobs.

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