I have strong feelings about this
Some arts courses might give false promises to students about career prospects.
But instead of pointing the finger at FE colleges we should be talking about....
STRUCTURAL INEQUALITY IN THE ARTS.
Hold me, I'm going in.
Some arts courses might give false promises to students about career prospects.
But instead of pointing the finger at FE colleges we should be talking about....
STRUCTURAL INEQUALITY IN THE ARTS.
Hold me, I'm going in.
Graduates from FE college courses may struggle to find a job in the arts.
Because WHO works in the arts now? The rich, white middle-classes.
Because WHO works in the arts now? The rich, white middle-classes.
How do they get jobs in the arts?
They have to do unpaid internships. Internships which people currently in leadership positions in arts organisations DID NOT HAVE TO DO.
They have to do unpaid internships. Internships which people currently in leadership positions in arts organisations DID NOT HAVE TO DO.
If they do make a go of it then they run up against the 'soft exclusion' of the arts sector, which mistakes the shallow social polish of a 'good' upbringing for competence.
(Boris Johnson, I am looking at you.)
(Boris Johnson, I am looking at you.)
And when people from working class or non-white backgrounds DO get that job in the arts they crave...
THEY GET PAID LESS FOR IT.
THEY GET PAID LESS FOR IT.
Unsurprisingly, the more you earn in the arts the more likely you are to believe that you secured your position and salary through talent and hard work.
This is the central and most insidious tenet of meritocracy.
This is the central and most insidious tenet of meritocracy.
But the belief that success is all about talent and hard work is a white, middle class fiction (probably set in Notting Hill and retailing for £8.99).
Anyone who has experienced structural disadvantage - PoC, the disabled etc - knows better.
Anyone who has experienced structural disadvantage - PoC, the disabled etc - knows better.
Amanda Spielman's comments are well-meant, but they crystallise, to use a term @pennyb taught me, why we shouldn't look at big knotty problems through the 'good intentions' of the 'nice white lady'.
Spielman wants students to find gainful employment, which is good.
But her solution is to keep the status quo.
The arts are too hard to get into not because they have a HORRIBLE problem with inequality but because students are aiming too high.
But her solution is to keep the status quo.
The arts are too hard to get into not because they have a HORRIBLE problem with inequality but because students are aiming too high.
To which I say NO NO NO!
It's up to the arts to solve its poshness, whiteness, ableism, sexism and homophobia.
Because unless it lets the VAST MAJORITY of the population in, they will wither and die.
It's up to the arts to solve its poshness, whiteness, ableism, sexism and homophobia.
Because unless it lets the VAST MAJORITY of the population in, they will wither and die.
So the next time someone tells you "the arts are too hard to get into" and you should do something more realistic.
Show them the receipts.
Show them the receipts.
