There has been a lot of alarming, or alarmist, depending on your take, conversation about AI and what it means for jobs. Our research tells a more nuanced story.
Nearly half of UK creative workers are employed outside the creative industries. They are working in professional services, finance, health, education, and technology, applying creative thinking in environments that depend on innovation, adaptability, and problem-solving. As AI gets better at analytical tasks, these skills become more valuable, no matter the sector.
“Design thinking and creative skills are in demand across the economy, from science and technology to business and management. The problem is that most universities have no way of seeing it.”
Graduate tracking data tends to measure destinations within the creative industries. It misses the much larger picture. Universities that can only see half of where their graduates go can only make half the case for what they do.
Better data changes that. We worked with the University of Leeds and Unscrambled.world to map the career destinations and economic impact of their creative arts graduates, across both creative and non-creative sectors. The findings show a contribution that is broader, and more significant, than conventional measures suggest.
For policymakers, this data makes the case against defunding and deprioritising arts education at every level. Creative skills are not a niche asset. They are a broad economic one.
It also speaks to young people weighing up their options. Indicating that studying the arts offers something that does not reduce to a list of transferable skills. Engaging with creative processes and with culture itself has value that is harder to measure but no less important than any other subject.
Universities have a stronger story to tell about their creative graduates than most realise.
Learn more about our work with universities here.
