That’s not a sentence that society is used to hearing. A new report forecasts a creativity shortage as rapid growth is predicted across the UK’s creative industries. We are seeing an increased demand for creative people. We ask, what does this mean for creative children?
“I was told when I was young there were no jobs in art – so I had to seek it out on my own… [I] found out there was a whole world of creative jobs! […] I am passionate about dissuading this myth and helping a new generation of young people potentially pursue a career in the arts.” – art-K Teacher
This month, a new report by the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre (PEC) sheds light on a widening skills gap within the UK’s creative industries. In their words, we have a skills mis-match.[1] Experts predict rapid growth within the creative industry over the next 10 years, bringing an increased demand for skills. To put it simply, the demand for creativity is high, but it’s not being met.
Here’s the facts:
- Across all industries, creativity ranks among the top 3 sought-after skills, along with problem-solving and communication.
- 66% of hiring managers place high importance on creativity when making hiring decisions.[2]
We are living in a very important time to be a Creative!
But what does this mean for creative children?
They are in high demand!
What’s more, many of the solutions to bridging the creativity gap start in early education. This means that many of our students are at a crucial stage in their education, with apt time to cultivate these essential skills. There is an urgency to help nurture creativity earlier, and help fix perceptions of the arts as invaluable.
A lot of the existing research on this subject looks from the top down, or rather from an employer point of view. Our perspective, as art educators, is on ways we can best support young people to nurture their creativity at this important stage in their education.
How can parents best support creative children?
Firstly, by helping your child recognise what creativity is, and the power of being a Creative.
Secondly, through an understanding of ways to nurture it.
This week marks National Careers Week, where children across the UK turn their attention to their future. We celebrate with them, and want to highlight the value of creativity.
What does your child say when you ask: What do you want to be when you grow up?
It’s not always easy for young creatives to say, “I want to be an artist”. We invited our teachers to share their childhood aspirations. 72% shared that they hoped to find a career within the creative industries.
“A painter. Without fully growing up…” – art-K teacher
“lawyer, teacher, designer….I became two of those but still time to become a lawyer!” – art-K teacher
When I was very small I wanted to be a pop star….but as I grew out of that I understood art was my vocation – art-K teacher
Some shared that it was so daunting to pursue a career in the arts due to many attempts to dissuade them.
Frequently, I teach adult students who speak of the same pressures from parents and teachers to “go find a real job”. I have friends and colleagues who are at the start of their career who also find it hard to own that they are artists, until they make significant money or are published.
Perhaps the first step to closing the gap is to assure young people that a career in the arts is possible…
Here’s some facts to share with your creative children, or reassure any concerns you may have:
- Over the last decade, employment in creative industries has expanded rapidly – at four times the rate of the wider UK workforce.
- With a forecast of further growth, the creative industry has earned a place on the UK’s list of priority sectors, as part of the government’s industrial strategy – Invest 2035
- The UK’s growing creative economy is predicted to create 300,000+ new jobs over the next five years.[1]
So, what is creativity?
In order to understand why creativity is a superpower, we need to define it. Creativity is an ability to generate something new according to the centre for early childhood.[3] It is the use of imagination and original ideas in order to do so.
Why is it in demand by 66% of employers?
The simple reason is because creatives are equipped with skills businesses need in order to compete, innovate and grow.[1] Experts identify creativity as a skill required by employers to ensure they remain relevant, now and in the future:
Around half of employers experiencing skills shortages report that they are looking for creative people because they have complex problem solving skills and creative and innovative thinking.[1]
The “Creativity Gap” in Education
In an earlier 2024 report, a skill gap was announced following a ‘severe’ drop in people choosing to pursue a creative path post-school, leading to a shortage of art graduates for the UK’s growing creative economy.
- There has been a 57% drop in university enrollments in creative subjects between 2014/15 and 2022/23. (Higher than the average across all subject disciplines which show a 31% drop across all subjects).
- There was also a lower intake of apprenticeships within creative industries across the UK. [4]
Are young people still afraid to pursue art?
Shockingly, this was a newspaper headline in 2019: “One in four students is on a ‘Mickey Mouse’ course”. Mickey Mouse degrees being a degree that’s “worthless or irrelevant”. The report didn’t attribute reasons for the drop, however, that title could be enough to put people off.
In response to these horror headlines, a tutor from the Royal Academy spoke of the high level of critical thinking and innovative imaginings that society will need, “if you think about the way jobs are changing over the coming years”. And that artists will provide that. [5]
Royal Academy feels very strongly about the art education issue and have been running a campaign across billboards to make noise about the issue.
Times are changing, so what’s our part in that?
The solutions lie in early education
It seems that the UK’s education and skills system has not been able to keep pace with the growth of creative industries, as well as the existing barriers that prevent people from pursuing a career in the arts. The focus has been more on STEM, as the technology industry took off. Therefore, many of the PEC suggested solutions are in school!
The PEC offered some actions to spring forward from the report, as ways to close the creativity gap.We have summarised them and made them relevant as actions for you, the parents of creative children:
1. There is a call from the PEC for creative education and skills provision to be introduced earlier – to nurture creativity in primary and secondary education. Art is widely accepted to be declining in schools. There is a decline in both the quality and quantity of art education in primary schools, shares a government report.[6] If support in schools is not available, out of school support is vital to fill this gap. We know that nurturing creativity is no even more vital at an early stage, afterall:
“Early childhood is the most critical time”… “to ensure that the next generations of employees are “future ready”.
2. More needs to be done to promote creative careers! The PEC suggests more collaboration between schools and the industry. This can promote more awareness of creative careers. This can be done in a multitude of ways: through creative careers assemblies in schools, running careers fairs where local creative employers take part or having specialist creatives come into the classroom. Many Creatives would jump at the chance to inspire children (us included) so it’s worthwhile asking and encouraging collaborations in your child’s school.
3. The soft skills built through creativity are invaluable – they should be celebrated as such! The stats prove it is highly employable. So, we need to help fix the perception of creative degrees as “Mickey Mouse degrees” and start celebrating the multitude of transferable skills offered through studying art. Especially at a young age. To nurture, a lot of the time, is to build a confidence in saying: “I’m going to study art” or “I am an artist”.
We understand creativity is a power. It is one that all individuals possess – an ability to innovate new ideas and solutions; and it’s for us, as educators, to nurture and promote this ability nationwide. Employers have begun to really recognise that! Afterall, your children are part of the next generation of employees who will help bridge the skills gap.
Written by: Molly Huxley
Edited and reviewed by: Emily Harper
Reference Resources:
[1] Skills mismatches in the UK’s Creative Industries
[3] The Magic of Childhood: How Curiosity, Creativity, and Joy Empower Children to Thrive – CFEC
[4] New-research-points-to-a-looming-creative-economy-Creative-PEC-Press-Release-17-July-2024.pdf
[5] https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/article/art-under-threat-crisis-britain-higher-education
