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Thesis
Creative futures: exploring the impact of arts-based workforce development opportunities for young people
Master of Science (M.S.), Drexel University
Jun 2025
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17918/00011093
Abstract
The artistic sector provides critical spaces and tools that encourage self-expression, nurture identity exploration, and increase understanding and compassion between communities. To ensure that these spaces are truly inclusive and representative, we need an artistic workforce that reflects the diversity of our country. Unfortunately, there are several notable barriers to pursuing and maintaining a creative career that have led to a lack of diversity within the artistic workforce. These include, but are not limited to, disparities in access to arts education, inequitable funding practices, and a lack of entry-level positions in the arts sector. Arts-based workforce development for young people is an emerging field that seeks to expand opportunities for young people interested in pursuing creative careers. This thesis explores the kinds of arts-based workforce development programs that exist, the social and economic impacts of these programs on the people involved and their surrounding communities, and the role these programs can play in expanding meaningful employment opportunities for the creative workforce that drive equity within the sector. This research was conducted in a qualitative manner, relying heavily on interviews with people involved in the field and a survey of people who currently or have previously worked in the sector. Through this process, I discovered that there are many different approaches to designing and running arts-based workforce development programs. In this thesis, I examine various strategies that organizations are currently using, unpack how these programs are influenced by the discourses present in the field, and consider how this work can contribute to a stronger, more connected urban landscape. While arts-based workforce development alone will not solve systemic inequities, it offers tools for addressing these injustices by intentionally engaging young people who may have previously had limited exposure to the arts and expanding opportunities for young people to learn about and be exposed to different types of roles and opportunities within the creative economy.
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Details
- Title
- Creative futures
- Creators
- Josie E. Sepel
- Contributors
- Andrew Zitcer (Advisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Drexel University
- Degree Awarded
- Master of Science (M.S.)
- Publisher
- Drexel University; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Number of pages
- viii, 70 pages
- Resource Type
- Thesis
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Urban Strategy; Architecture, Design, and Urbanism; Drexel University; Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts and Design
- Other Identifier
- 991022061454504721