{"id":187871,"date":"2017-07-29T09:16:50","date_gmt":"2017-07-29T07:16:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=187871"},"modified":"2017-07-29T09:16:56","modified_gmt":"2017-07-29T07:16:56","slug":"why-an-arts-degree-wont-cut-you-off-from-a-big-business-job-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business\/187871\/why-an-arts-degree-wont-cut-you-off-from-a-big-business-job-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Why an arts degree won’t cut you off from a big business job in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"

There is a perception that an arts or Bachelor of Arts degree is a ‘stop gap’ for students, and carries limited hiring opportunities – but this has been widely debunked in the last four years, according to\u00a0UCT Graduate School of Business’ (GSB)\u00a0Elaine Rumboll.<\/p>\n

Rumboll is the founder and convener of the Business Acumen for Artists (BAA) course at the UCT GSB.<\/p>\n

The only short course of its kind in South Africa, the BAA is aimed specifically at creative professionals, teaching essential business skills and helping\u00a0them create sustainable businesses around their creative talent.<\/p>\n

Speaking to BusinessTech, Rumboll suggested that the biggest issues South African students with BA and arts degrees face is that their courses fail to teach the commercial aspect of what they are doing.<\/p>\n

“It is a systemic problem, not just in South Africa but worldwide,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is really important to change this. Just think what success might be achieved if our creative professionals were better equipped to build sustainable businesses and industries around their art.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why things are changing<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Citing author George Monbiot, Rumboll said that South African businesses were increasingly looking towards the creative field for new hires and in the entrepreneurial space.<\/p>\n

“In the future, if you want a job you must be as unlike a machine as possible: creative, critical and socially skilled.”<\/p>\n

She also highlighted\u00a0TV series such as Game of Thrones, which helped\u00a0Sky UK reap record-breaking profits<\/a> in 2016. She noted that creative industries were becoming increasingly good for business.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a prevailing mindset that distinguishes between great art and commercial endeavours.”<\/p>\n

“But the success of shows like Game of Thrones is helping to shift that,\u201d said Rumboll, who says she was inspired to create the BAA course to challenge the myth of the struggling artist.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaking money doesn\u2019t make you a bad artist,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

New workplace skills<\/strong><\/h3>\n

A degree in the arts provides two key skills essential for the workplace – communication and critical thinking, Rumboll said.<\/p>\n

She highlighted a recent survey\u00a0from the Association of American Colleges and Universities, which blows a hole in some of the thinking that there was only a correlation between jobs and the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) fields.<\/p>\n

After surveying college students and employers, the survey determined the most important learning outcomes based on employer priorities. These included:<\/p>\n