Summary of Notes for Presentation Montreal Dec 8 2001
Q: What kind of ‘transition from school to work’ initiatives would be the most efficient to implement in a context where 50 percent of the 809,000 cultural workers are fully or partially self-employed? How can we better prepare graduates for the realities of the cultural sector workplace?
A: First of all, ‘efficiency of implementation’ has to be considered well after ‘maximum effectiveness for the transitioning student’ has been decided.
What is it that freshly minted artists and cultural workers really need to make the transition to working and earning as smooth and effective as possible? What is central to this process, to facilitate a smooth ‘launch’ to a working and earning life that is expected to be ‘fully or partially self-employed’? And just what does this terminology mean, in the context of the labour market and employment industry, anyway?
From the wording of this question, I read that we are talking about those students who remain in an educational stream through to their BFA or higher, and who leave this stream with their bright hopes and skills and a load of student debt. This scenario is not unique to artists, as anyone who graduates from years of schooling is facing much the same gap between what they expect and what is waiting for them.
But it is not only that one time, that people make a transition from one ‘career’ to another, or returning to school, etc. The chart of competencies for self-employed cultural workers provides the goalposts for this game, regardless of whether the emerging worker expects to be ‘self-employed’ or not. This is because we know that the transition process is not a one-time thing… throughout the working life of most people in a world that makes lifelong learning imperative, there will be many times of transition from learning to earning. It is particularly important in the cultural sector, with cultural workers and especially with those pursuing an artistic practice, to be enterprising, to self-manage and to be prepared for constant challenge and change.
And, quite honestly, the process must start long before they enter post-secondary education, for anything we do at this stage to shorten the process. There is a lot of un-learning to do, otherwise.
I have considered this as I work with people who are still having trouble with the transition many years after graduating. Some of them have tried to solve the problem by going back to school for another degree (or two). This kind of thinking happens when stereotypes prevail, and intelligent, educated people do not have access to the right information to grasp the problem they are trying to solve.
I believe the primary mind/skillset cultural workers need is the thing they are least likely to learn in school: to be creatively and effectively self-reliant in career self-management.
Specific information about real scenarios of work life – a way for each and every one to hear the story that will give them the ‘aha’ /epiphany of motivation – this is missing. Stories that hit home, that challenge but do not actively discourage or generate fear are desperately needed to replace the fear-based responses most people hear from counsellors, parents and, yes, actual artists.
Practical skills for self-marketing – but first, they must buy into this concept (marketing your skills or products is not selling yourself, your soul, or OUT).
Someone to turn to (personal relationships with positive, knowledgeable mentors is key)
Self reliance without pathological independence – hmmm, how do you TEACH this???
Then, and only then, we should address the issue of how to develop and implement initiatives to ease the transition(s), how this can best be done, what role the institutions can play, and what is actually possible, in the ‘lead a horse to water, but he’ll only drink if he’s thirsty’ kind of way. (Open source model/just-in-time delivery method)
First, we must examine the structures, attitudes, modelling and language that surround students while they are still in school. Are they consistent with building self-reliance, or conforming to standards set by others? Unfortunately, the institutional world which students inhabit during their learning years, and the methods by which their success is measured, actually works against them when they move out to build a career. As Einstein said, it is impossible to solve a problem in the paradigm it was created in… or something like that.
“Out there” in the real world of working and earning, credentials can count less than initiative and self-marketing. Research is more than an academic exercise – it means the difference between earning a living and creating failed projects. Art and business skills are equally important. Building a network of relationships that stretch outside of comfort zones is essential. Staying connected to one’s vision and values is vital for guiding choice.