Dissertation
Defining the impact of the fine arts on higher education and workforce preparedness: an alumni perspective
Doctor of Education (Ed.D.), Drexel University
Mar 2022
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17918/00001019
Abstract
Institutions of Higher Education (IHE) continue to use old models to collect data in response to stakeholders outside of the institution to prepare their students to be adaptive to the needs of the 21st -century workplace. This data often overlooks career readiness skills to primarily focus on admissions and matriculation rates and discipline-specific learning outcomes. This nested case study investigates the relationship between the skills acquired through a rural IHE's fine arts-based programs of study and skills utilized in the 21st-century workplace as perceived by the rural IHE's undergraduate female alumni who graduated and entered the workforce between 2010-2019. Specifically, the alumni population studied are from three of the IHE School of Arts' (SoA) fine arts disciplines: (1) Art & Design, (2) Music, and (3) Theatre & Dance, for which the curricular framework emphasizes career readiness. Methods of inquiry used in the study were comprised of an analysis of data obtained using three data collection methods: (1) Alumni Survey, (2) Semi-structured One-on-one interviews, and (3) Artifacts. The overall findings suggest that fine arts alumni can attribute many skills they perceive as needed in their current workplace to their fine arts program of study. However, there are also specific gaps in required skills needed in their work positions not addressed by the programs of study's curricular outcomes. The most distinct differences between skills obtained through the SoA's program of study emerged when comparing alumni responses by their status as traditional or non-traditional students. The specific skills alumni perceived they acquired through the SoA programs of study are listed, as are required workplace skills that alumni perceive would be beneficial for future graduates to have obtained through their fine arts program.
Metrics
72 File views/ downloads
87 Record Views
Details
- Title
- Defining the impact of the fine arts on higher education and workforce preparedness
- Creators
- Mary E. Carlisle
- Contributors
- Lawrence J. Keiser (Advisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Drexel University
- Degree Awarded
- Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)
- Publisher
- Drexel University; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Number of pages
- xi, 181 pages
- Resource Type
- Dissertation
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- School of Education (1997-2026); Drexel University
- Other Identifier
- 991017495593104721