Careers in the cultural and creative industries: How career differences are shaped by individual and work characteristics

Authors: Andreas Widman, Manuel Längler & Gerhard Messmann

Cite as:

Widman, A., Längler, M., & Messmann. G. (2024). Careers in the cultural and creative industries: How career differences are shaped by individual and work characteristics. Journal of Creative Industries and Cultural Studies – JOCIS, 11(2), 22-50. https://doi.org/10.56140/JOCIS-v11-7

Abstract

The importance of the cultural and creative industries (CCI), for instance for economic growth and innovation dynamics, is increasing globally. To foster the development of the CCI and the professional development of its entrepreneurs, insight into careers in the CCI is needed. Therefore, the current study investigates characteristics of careers in the CCI and linked this insight to motivational and behavioural aspects of professionals in the CCI and to characteristics of their work context. An online-survey with N=61 entrepreneurs working in the CCI in Germany is carried out (over a period of 8 months from October 2021 until June 2022). The mean age of the participating entrepreneurs was M = 46.53 years (SD = 14.26) and ranged from 23 years to 80 years. Concerning gender, 54.1% were female, 42.6% were male, and 1.6% were non-binary. A cluster analysis and an ANOVA are carried out to investigate how careers in the CCI differ regarding different career aspects and individual and work characteristics. The results indicate three clusters concerning the investigated career aspects ‘proactive career behaviour’, ‘career success’, ‘career identity’, and ‘career aspirations’: entrepreneurs with high values (close to sample average), entrepreneurs with very high values (above sample average) and entrepreneurs with moderate values (below sample average). These clusters differ concerning individual characteristics (particularly regarding innovative behaviour) and concerning work characteristics (particularly regarding job complexity). For practice, this study indicates the need to make entrepreneurs in the CCI aware of the importance of various individual and work characteristics for creating a successful career.

Keywords

Career success, proactive career behaviour, career identity, career aspirations, innovative behaviour, informal learning

ISSN: 2184-0466.
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