Research Results

Abstract

What began as a curious inquiry into the meaning of a concept has mushroomed into a longitudinal project with a qualitative-quantitative methodological (“triangulation”) approach. Several methodologies were employed over six years to gauge the expectations of the students of an applied art and design school as well as those of employers and industry professionals. The differences are striking: while students (N=1,724) expect to be able to use their creativity by working independently, employers and industry professionals (N=533) have much less use for creative thinking in general, and are, instead, focused on behavioral issues such as punctuality, reliability, honesty, and so on. The students have unrealistic expectations of their future work environments just as employers and industry professionals have unrealistic expectations of their future workforce. What role should education play in this, and how important is creativity in people’s work?