Arts and Design Alumni Employment and Perspectives on Their Work and Careers

Employment Snaapshot

This report was supported in part by an award from the Research: Art Works program of the National Endowment for the Arts: Grant 1891787 – 38-22 to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, with matching funds provided by the University of Illinois College of Fine and Applied Arts, and the University of Illinois Investment for Growth Fund, in partnership with the Strategic National Arts Alumni Project (SNAAP)

Suggested Citation:
Novak-Leonard, J. L. (2024). Arts & Design Alumni Perspectives on Employment & Career Outcomes, Strategic National Arts Alumni Project Report. Austin, TX: Arts + Design Alumni Research, SNAAP.

SNAAP is supported by Arts + Design Alumni Research, the nonprofit that oversees the management of SNAAP, and its institutional partnerships with the University of Texas at Austin’s College of Fine Arts and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s College of Fine and Applied Arts.

SNAAP’s 2022 survey administration was made possible by the dedicated efforts of the SNAAP staff — Lee Ann Scotto Adams, Executive Director; Deanna Ibrahim, Director of Research Services; and Angie L. Miller, Data Consultant — and through support from The Mellon Foundation, The Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation, and sponsorships supplied by:

• ArtCenter College of Design
• College of Art & Media at University of Colorado Denver
• College of Arts and Architecture at Penn State University
• College of Fine Arts at University of Nevada, Las Vegas
• Eastman School of Music at University of Rochester
• Emerson College
• Herb Alpert School of Music at University of California, Los Angeles
• Indiana University, Bloomington
• Institute of American Indian Arts
• Kathrine G. McGovern College of the Arts at the University of Houston
• Maryland Institute College of Art
• Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University
• Pratt Institute
• School of the Art Institute of Chicago
• Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts at University of North Carolina School of the Arts
• Tyler School of Art & Architecture at Temple University
• University of Southern California
• Yale University

Questions? Email: info@snaaparts.org

Author Affiliations

Dr. Jennifer L. Novak-Leonard, Research Associate Professor, College of Fine and Applied Arts at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; SNAAP Research Director and SNAAP Board Vice President (2019 – 2023)

The upheavals of the last few years within higher education and the labor force have catalyzed leaders in arts and design postsecondary education to question assumptions within their institutions about ​“what it means to be embarking on a career and life” in arts and design today (Novak-Leonard, Dempster, Scotto Adams, & Walters, 2022, p. 9). Ultimately, the questions being raised seek to better understand what constitutes ​“success” for alumni and who is determining those terms of success in the current, evolving contexts of education and work. 

To inform these critical considerations about student outcomes and notions of ​“success,” this report uses data from the 2022 Strategic National Arts Alumni Project (SNAAP) survey to provide insights on the most recently measured employment outcomes for alumni of arts and design postsecondary programs and alumni reflections on their work and careers, including satisfaction with different aspects of their work and careers. The 2022 SNAAP survey asked alumni of postsecondary arts, design, and adjacent programs about their employment as of September 2022, and about their perspectives on connections between their postsecondary arts and design training and their employment and the development of their careers during Fall 2022.

Highlights of findings about arts and design alumni employment and perspectives on their careers and the relationship of their postsecondary training to their careers are: 

• 87% of alumni between the ages of 18 and 64 were in the workforce in September 2022 
  • The most recent alumni—alumni 2 or fewer years out from graduation at the time of the 2022 SNAAP survey administration — reported a significantly lower workforce participation rate than alumni who had graduated in earlier years. Seventy-nine percent (79%) of the most recent alumni between the ages of 18 and 64 were in the workforce. Compared to alumni who had graduated in earlier years, the most recent alumni reported the highest rates of not working due to continuing education (6%) and looking for work (10%).
  • 58% of arts and design alumni aged 65 or older were in the workforce and 37% were retired.
• 75% of arts and design alumni in the workforce have arts- or design-related job duties, regardless of their occupation or job title.
  • 56% of arts and design alumni in the workforce identified themselves as working in an arts- or design-related occupation.
• 75% of arts and design alumni have been self-employed. 
  • As of September 2022, 39% of arts and design alumni were self-employed and 36% had previously been self-employed. 
  • Almost 9 in 10 (87%) of self-employed alumni in the workforce have arts or design related duties as part of their regular work.
• The overall largest gap between skills acquired and those needed in paid work is for ​‘business, financial, or entrepreneurial skills’ — 65% of working alumni reported these skills as ​‘important’ or ​‘very important’ in their employment and 33% reported acquiring them ​‘some’ or ​‘very much’ during their postsecondary education.
• Arts and design alumni in the workforce, on average, feel most satisfied with their degree of independence; 60% of alumni in the workforce are ​‘very satisfied’ with this aspect of their work.
  • Alumni with arts- or design-related work duties report significantly higher rates of being ​‘very satisfied’ with opportunities to be creative and to be intellectually challenged than alumni without such work duties.
  • Alumni with arts- or design-related work duties and who were self-employed report a significantly higher rate of being ​‘very satisfied’ with the alignment of their work and their values.
• Of arts and design alumni in the workforce, almost half (47%) felt that their career is closely related to their field of study; 46% felt that their career ​‘very much’ drew upon the skills and abilities developed at their arts and design alma mater; and 70% felt that having a degree in arts, design or a related management field has been ​‘very important’ or ​‘important’ to advancing a career in arts or design.

The upheavals of the last few years have impacted the labor force, ways of working, and approaches to how work and workers are valued. At the same time, there is an increasing emphasis within higher education on student outcomes in the labor force and returns on investment for the direct and indirect costs of postsecondary education. Amid these major shifts affecting higher education and the labor force, leaders in arts and design postsecondary education are questioning assumptions within their institutions about ​“what it means to be embarking on a career and life” in arts and design today (Novak-Leonard et al., 2022, p. 9). Ultimately, these are questions about what constitutes ​“success” for alumni, and who is determining those terms of success. While traditionally used student outcome measures focused on employment measures are vital, administrative and faculty leaders in arts and design postsecondary institutions see the need for bolstering and further nuancing such student outcomes measures and the need to better understand how alumni today are evolving their own terms of success. These current needs extend questions about understandings of graduates’ success initially examined with SNAAP data over a decade ago (e.g., Lindemann et al., 2012; Strategic National Arts Alumni Project, 2011) and build upon the argument to ​“broaden” what success is (Lindemann et al., 2012, p. 21).

Synthesized in Data, Pressing Needs, and Biggest Challenges: Insights from the Field, recent interviews with administrative and faculty leaders in arts and design postsecondary institutions reveal that there are varying definitions of success within the fields of postsecondary arts and design (Novak-Leonard et al., 2022). One traditional measure of success has been employment as an artist or designer in a creative industries sector. This particular view of success mirrors the common, though oft-challenged, use of discipline-based occupations to understand artists and designers in the labor force more generally (Novak-Leonard & Skaggs, 2017). Using such an approach, prior research insights show that artists in the labor force are more likely than other workers to be self-employed (Alper & Wassall, 2006; Woronkowicz & Noonan, 2019), to hold multiple jobs (Menger, 2006; Throsby & Petetskaya, 2017), to work part-time (Alper & Wassall, 2006; Throsby & Petetskaya, 2017), to have higher levels of unemployment (Alper & Wassall, 2006; Menger, 2006), to have greater job satisfaction (Paulsen, 2022), in general, and to have job satisfaction stem from intrinsic aspects of work (Dumford & Miller, 2017). Additional research has discussed, however, that though an occupation-based understanding of artists and designers is critical for many purposes, ​“it represents a limited conception of artists and their possible impact” (Novak-Leonard & Skaggs, 2017, p. 6).

Amid the increasing emphasis in higher education on student outcomes in the labor force, the question of whether a postsecondary degree in the fields of arts and design is relevant to future employment in related fields has been taken up in research. Recent research has sought to test for a causal relationship between bachelor-level arts degrees and employment outcomes. Analyses using data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey for 2015 – 2019, show that earning an arts bachelor’s degree ​“increases the likelihood of working in an arts industry” and ​“increases the average income for an artist more so than getting a non-arts bachelor’s degree” (Woronkowicz, 2023, para. 5). However, prior research has also shown that recent bachelor-level alumni who graduated during an economic recession are more likely to earn lower wages and to have lower rates of employment compared to alumni of similar years-since-degree who graduated in better economic times and the effects can have lasting impacts on careers (Paulsen, 2022; Woronkowicz, 2015). However, in general, research on bachelor-level degrees shows that there are generally low rates in most areas of study for a bachelor’s degree to be directly related to future employment. Exceptions to this are areas of study that are more vocationally oriented and may also place a particular emphasis on formalized credentialing or certification processes required for employment (Lewis & Daly, 2020, as cited in Brook et al., 2022). 

On the point that artists and designers in the labor force are more likely than other workers to be self-employed, the National Endowment for the Arts estimates that 34% of artists and designers in the national workforce are self-employed, which is about 3.6 times the likelihood of other workers to be self-employed (National Endowment for the Arts, 2019). The notable and sizable portion of arts and design alumni who are self-employed has been interpreted as artists and designers being especially entrepreneurial and innovative (e.g., Chang & Wyszomirski, 2015; Essig, 2022) or as being especially attracted to particular dynamics of self-employment — oft-cited as the flexibility to manage one’s own time, independence, and ability to accommodate personal circumstances — but, also as being due to limited and precarious options for other forms of employment (Feder & Woronkowicz, 2022). This raises questions about what portion of arts and design alumni are self-employed and their satisfaction with their work that can be addressed with the 2022 SNAAP data.

How ​“work” itself is understood, categorized, and holds meaning is shifting. A pervasive approach to understanding work has been the use of standardized occupational categories, particularly discipline-based employment within artistic and design fields, such as the eleven U.S. Census Bureau occupational codes used by the National Endowment for the Arts (National Endowment for the Arts, 2008, 2019, 2022) that often serve as a benchmark. However, the relevance of applying this approach to artists, designers, and other creative workers is being challenged, particularly if the nature of work is more project-based (e.g., Hénaut, Lena, & Accominotti, 2023). New types of jobs and ways of working are evolving, especially for those in arts, design, and adjacent fields. Hence, another lens being applied to understand the nature of work is a closer look at the portfolio of responsibilities one has within their employment as opposed to occupation or job title; the 2022 SNAAP data enables examining arts and design alumni in the workforce through both an occupation-based lens and a job duties-based lens. So, beyond defining success as employment as an artist or designer in a creative industries sector, another understanding of what counts as success for arts and design alumni is the leveraging of transferable skills and abilities developed through training and studies in arts or design to other occupations and sectors. This perspective emphasizes a positive view of student outcomes as the integration and adaptation of an alumni’s ​“artistry in unique ways outside of the primary sector of the arts” (Novak-Leonard et al., 2022, p. 9). Taken collectively, key ideas stemming from this body of research are that an occupation-based understanding of employment is important, but a limited means to understanding the value generated for an individual and the social value that applying skills as an artist or designer in the workforce can generate.

Perspectives on ​“success” in the 2022 SNAAP survey

To help inform these critical considerations about student outcomes and notions of ​“success,” this report provides insights on the most recently measured employment outcomes for alumni of arts and design postsecondary programs and alumni reflections on their work and careers using data from the 2022 SNAAP survey. Administered in the fall, the 2022 SNAAP survey asked alumni of postsecondary arts, design, and adjacent programs about their employment as of September 2022, and their perspectives on connections between their postsecondary arts and design training and the development of their careers. Using data from 2022, this report offers survey findings applying various lenses of success, including:

• Employment, in and outside of arts- or design-occupations
• Self-employment
• Having arts- or design-related duties 
• Satisfaction with aspects of employment
• Reflections on the relevance of alum’s postsecondary education to their career

For the 2022 SNAAP survey, a probabilistic sample design was used to bolster the generalizability of insights about arts and design alumni in the United States and, hence, this report makes use of weighted 2022 SNAAP data. This approach differs from prior SNAAP survey administrations and details about the sample design, weights, and additional technical aspects of the 2022 SNAAP survey administration and data are available in the 2022 SNAAP Technical Report (Novak-Leonard et al., 2023). In this report, the terms ​“alumni” or ​“arts and design alumni” refer to individuals who studied or trained in arts, design, or adjacent postsecondary fields as defined by the U.S. Department of Education’s Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) and identified by SNAAP in dialogue with administrative leaders in the postsecondary arts, design, communications, and additional fields. Significant differences throughout the report are determined and reported at the 0.05 p‑level unless otherwise noted; error bars in figures represent 95% confidence intervals around provided estimates.

Overall, 80% of alumni of arts and design postsecondary programs were in the workforce — meaning that they were working for pay or profit — as of September 2022. More specifically, an estimated 87% of alumni between the ages of 18 and 64 were in the workforce in September 2022, while over half (58%) of arts and design alumni aged 65 or older were in the workforce and 37% were retired.

There are notable differences in workforce participation explained in part by when alumni completed their arts or design degree, the level of arts or design degree earned, and the specific area of study of the degree. Significantly, the most recent alumni—alumni 2 or fewer years out from graduation at the time of the 2022 SNAAP survey administration — reported a significantly lower workforce participation rate than alumni who had graduated in earlier years. Seventy-nine percent (79%) of the most recent alumni between the ages of 18 and 64 were in the workforce as of September 2022. This is a challenging reality, but not surprising given that the most recent alumni are those who moved on from their postsecondary arts and design education during the two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, during which time many arts-related workplaces were especially hard-hit due to public health restrictions on in-person gatherings as well as people’s own comfort levels to gather in-person. Compared to alumni who had graduated in earlier years, the most recent alumni reported the highest rates of not working due to being a student and continuing their education (6%), and looking for work (10%); this percentage of not working due to being a student for the most recent alumni is double that reported by alumni who graduated 3 – 5 years, and the unemployment rate for the most recent alumni is approximately double that reported by alumni who graduated either 3 – 5 years or 6 – 10 years ago. In general, recent college graduates tend to have higher unemployment rates than the full college-educated workforce (Federal Reserve Bank of New York, 2023), but, even though it is not feasible to separately specify the effects within this analysis, it can be surmised that the timing of this phase of the COVID-19 pandemic impacted new alumni of arts and design postsecondary programs. Arts and design alumni of graduate programs, both masters’ and doctoral-level programs, were in the workforce at higher rates (89% and 94%, respectively) than alumni of bachelors’ programs after controlling for the effects of individual alumni characteristics. Alumni of certificate programs or similar coursework had a lower workforce participation rate (77%) than alumni of bachelors’ programs. Higher than average rates of workforce participation were reported overall by alumni of architecture (91%), arts, entertainment, or media management (91%), and music (90%) programs.

Work duties & occupations

Three-quarters (75%) of arts and design alumni in the workforce have arts- or design-related job duties, regardless of their occupation or job title (Figure 1). Over half of these alumni use their skills and ​‘expertise in artistic, design, architecture, or creative writing techniques’ within their work duties. Approximately one-third of arts and design alumni in the workforce have arts management and administrative duties; teach on aspects of art, design, or creative writing; or create, plan, or show visual art works. Approximately a quarter of arts and design alumni in the workforce work with creative writing, apply expertise in social art practices, or are involved with theatrical or performing arts.

The percentage of alumni in the workforce that regularly utilizes arts or design skills is significantly greater with higher levels of educational attainment earned in arts or design: 92% of doctoral degree earners in arts or design have arts or design-related duties as a regularly part of their employment, compared to 84% of master’s degree earners, and approximately 70% of both bachelor’s and associate degree earners.

Across all degree levels, alumni of architecture, arts education, and design programs in the workforce report the greatest likelihood of having art- or design-related duties as a regular part of their employment, all else equal. Eighty-nine (89%) of architecture alumni, 86% of arts education alumni, and 83% of design alumni report having art- or design-related duties as a regular part of their employment. Alumni of arts-specialized colleges report a slightly higher overall percentage of using arts or design skills in their employment (84%) compared to alumni from Doctoral University & Masters’ College & Baccalaureate institutions. Alumni who are more than five years out from their degree completion are modestly less likely than alumni five or fewer years out from their degree to have arts or design-related duties as a regular part of their employment.

Over half (56%) of arts and design alumni in the workforce self-identified that they held an arts- or design-related occupation in September 2022 (Table 1). Almost 10% of arts and design alumni in the workforce are working as each of the following: musicians; graphic designers, illustrators, or art directors; or arts educators in higher education. Twelve percent (12%) of arts and design graduates in the workforce self-reported being employed in an arts or design occupation but described their occupation as something other than the occupations listed on the SNAAP survey (Table 1).

Approximately half (49%) of alumni who self-identified as working in an arts or design occupation reported that they worked in one occupation from the arts and design-specific occupations listed in Table 1; this includes approximately 10% of alumni who self-identified as working in an arts or design occupation who only identified their occupation as being something ​‘other’ than the enumerated list of arts and design-specific occupations on the 2022 SNAAP survey. The other half of alumni who self-identified as working in an arts or design occupation chose two or more art- and design-specific occupations to describe their work. With half of the alumni working in self-identified arts or design occupations and describing themselves in a hybrid manner with multiple occupations, this initial look at alumni occupations suggests the need to better understand, broadly, how those working in arts and design occupations actually define themselves and their work in contrast to how they are commonly being measured in the U.S. workforce.

Considering occupations alongside duties, 19% of arts and design alumni in the workforce report having art- or design-related duties as part of their typical work week who also report that they were not employed in an arts or design occupation. Table 2 shows the percentages of arts and design alumni in the workforce who self-identified as not being employed in an arts or design occupation, as well as those who self-identified as not being employed in an arts or design occupation and having arts- or design-related duties as part of their regular work. In almost all the ​“non” arts or design-specific occupations, approximately half or more of the alumni working in them report having arts- or design-related duties as part of their regular work.

Self-employment

Overall, 41% of arts and design alumni in the workforce as of September 2022 were self-employed. Alumni 10 or more years out from their degree completion in the workforce were the most likely to be self-employed; 43% of alumni 10 or more years out from their degree are self-employed. Additionally, graduates of special focus 4‑year colleges of art, music and design were also amongst the most likely to be self-employed; 46% of these alumni were self-employed as of September 2022. Half (50%) of music program alumni in the workforce are self-employed. Conversely, graduates of bachelor’s degrees in arts or design were amongst the least likely alumni to be self-employed, regardless of years since graduation, all else equal; 39% of alumni of bachelors-level programs in the workforce were self-employed as of September 2022. 

Almost 9 in 10 alumni (87%) of self-employed alumni in the workforce have arts- or design- related duties as part of their regular work. Figure 2 shows that a significantly greater portion of self-employed alumni in the workforce with arts or design duties have multiple employers (54%) compared to those who are self-employed and do not have arts or duties as part of their regular work (30%), as well as compared to those who are not self-employed (12%), regardless of work duties.

Additionally, there are significant differences in the hours worked between alumni who are and are not self-employed. A significantly larger portion of self-employed alumni in the workforce with arts and design work duties report working over 50 hours per week (16%) and a significantly smaller portion works 36 – 40 hours per week (19%) compared to self-employed alumni in the workforce without arts and design work duties, as well as compared to those who are not self-employed (Figure 3). Amongst alumni in the workforce who are not self-employed, significantly larger portions of those with arts or duties as part of their regular work report working longer hours compared to those without such duties (12% compared to 9% for more than 50 hours per week; 39% compared to 31% for 41 – 50 hours per weeks; and a smaller portion for those with arts or design duties, 35% compared to 45%, for 36 – 40 hours per week).

Furthermore, alumni who are self-employed report higher rates of working for multiple employers and working fewer hours than alumni who are not self-employed; these dynamics echo those of self-employment for artists identified in prior research (e.g., Alper & Wassall, 2006; Menger, 2006; Throsby & Petetskaya, 2017).

Prior research insights show that artists in the labor force are more likely than other workers to have greater job satisfaction (Paulsen, 2022). In this section, insights from the 2022 SNAAP data are provided using three different lenses through which to look at alumni perspectives on their work and careers: 1) alumni perspectives on the alignment of skills gained in their educational experiences and those needed in their paid work; 2) the extent to which arts and design alumni feel satisfied with their employment; and; 3) alumni reflections on the relationship between their postsecondary education in arts or design and the trajectory of their careers to-date.

Skills & Abilities 

Past reports using earlier years of SNAAP data have explored skills gaps — that is, gaps between what alumni report as needed skills and abilities to perform effectively in their work, and what alumni report as skills and abilities acquired or developed while at their postsecondary institution (e.g., Lindemann et al., 2012; Skaggs, Frenette, Gaskill, & Miller, 2017). Analyzing such gaps offers a means for identifying opportunities for bolstering and expanding arts and design student and alumni skillsets. While the 2022 SNAAP data is not directly comparable to prior years of SNAAP data , several patterns within findings from the gap analyses across years of SNAAP data persist.

The overall largest gap between skills or capabilities acquired and those needed in paid work is for ​‘business, financial, or entrepreneurial skills.’ Two-thirds (65%) of working alumni reported needing these skills in their employment and 33% reported attaining them during their postsecondary arts or design education and training (Table 3). In contrast, 86% of alumni in the workforce reported developing skills in ​‘artistic technique’ and 55% reported needing such skills for their paid work. These findings echo those from the 2015 – 2017 SNAAP data reported in Skaggs et al. (2017). Table 3 lists the percentages of arts and design alumni who felt they acquired or developed a particular skill or ability from their alma mater in column (i), that feel that the skill or ability is important to their paid work in column (ii), and column (iii) shows the difference between columns (i) and (ii).

The degree to which alumni felt that their postsecondary arts or design training helped them acquire and develop specific skills and abilities does vary by certain characteristics. Table 4 lists the subgroups of alumni that reported greater than average rates of their postsecondary institution helping them ​“some” or ​“very much” acquire or develop each skill or ability:

• In terms of difference by years-since-degree completion, the most recent graduates — those two or fewer years from degree completion — report relatively high rates for multiple skills and abilities, including creative thinking and problem-solving skills, and the abilities to adapt to changing circumstances and to be resilient and to pick yourself up when things do not go as planned. 
• In terms of type of degree or credential, alumni of doctoral programs report some of the highest rates of developing critical thinking, communication, research, project management, and networking skills. In contrast, alumni of associates and bachelor programs report the highest rates of developing artistic technique and technology skills; additionally, alumni of associate degree programs also report the highest rates of developing business, financial, or entrepreneurial skills. Alumni of graduate programs and of associate degree programs report significantly higher rates than alumni of bachelor programs in developing the skills to recognize opportunities to advance their ideas or careers. 
• In terms of institution types, alumni of special focus 4‑year institutions report notably high rates of developing skills in creative thinking and problem-solving, and in artistic technique; alumni of HBCUs report notably high rates of developing research skills; and alumni of associate/2‑year institutions report notably high rates of developing the abilities to recognize opportunities to advance your ideas or career and to collaborate with others from cultures and demographics different from your own, as well as project management skills. 
• Additionally, alumni reported notable differences in acquisition of skills and abilities by their fields of study; for example, alumni of architecture, arts education, and design programs report relatively high rates of acquiring the ability to evaluate multiple approaches to solving a problem; alumni of architecture, arts education, dance and theater programs report relatively high rates of developing the ability to adapt to changing circumstances; and alumni of arts, entertainment or media management/administration programs report the highest rates of acquiring business, financial, or entrepreneurial skills.

In looking more specifically at alumni perspectives on what skills and abilities are needed to effectively perform in their paid work, the same pattern of deficits are seen regardless of whether alumni worked in self-identified arts or design occupations; had arts- or design-related duties as part of their regular work, regardless of occupation; and in looking more closely at arts or design occupations, also regardless of whether or not alumni were self-employed. 

Satisfaction

Overall, the greatest portion of arts and design alumni in the workforce feel most satisfied with their degree of independence; 60% of alumni in the workforce are ​‘very satisfied’ with this aspect of their work (Table 5). Approximately half of alumni in the workforce are ​‘very satisfied’ with their job security, level of responsibility, flexibility of location and hours, alignment of their work with their values, and opportunities to be intellectually challenged and to contribute to society in their paid work. On average, less than 1 in 3 alumni feel ​‘very satisfied’ with either their opportunity for advancement or their earnings.

There are significant differences in aspects of satisfaction depending on whether the alumni have arts- or design-related duties as a regular part of their employment, and whether they are self-employed. Figure 4 illustrates these by depicting the differences between the average rate of high satisfaction and the rates for four different subcategories: 1) self-employed alumni with arts- or design-related duties, 2) alumni who are not self-employed but have arts- or design-related duties, 3) self-employed alumni who do not have arts- or design-related duties, and 4) alumni who are not self-employed and do not have arts- or design-related duties.

Alumni with arts- or design-related work duties — whether self-employed or not — reported significantly higher rates of being ​‘very satisfied’ with opportunities to be creative and to be intellectually challenged than alumni without such work duties. Alumni with arts- or design-related work duties and who were self-employed had a significantly higher rate of being ​‘very satisfied’ with the alignment of their work and their values. Those who were self-employed — regardless of their work duties — had higher rates of being ​‘very satisfied’ with their degree of independence and the flexibility of both their work location and hours. Alumni who were not self-employed reported significantly higher rates of satisfaction with their job security and benefits. All else equal, alumni that were not self-employed and who did not have arts or design-related work duties were significantly less likely to be ​‘very satisfied’ with their level of responsibility, opportunities to contribute to society, and their overall job satisfaction; self-employed alumni with arts or design-related work duties were significantly less likely to be ​‘very satisfied’ with their opportunities for advancement. From amongst these permutations, two patterns emerge — alumni who feel satisfied by employment stability, compensation, and benefits, and those who are satisfied by flexibility, autonomy, and alignment with values and self-determined creative and intellectual pursuits, which echoes prior research insights (e.g., Dumford & Miller, 2017).

Reflections on relevance of education to career

While much emphasis is placed on future careers within higher education, studies have found that typically a minority of bachelor-level graduates studied in areas that are directly connected to their future employment and when they do, it is mostly related to vocationally oriented college-level training (Lewis & Daly, 2020, as cited in Brook et al., 2022). What then are arts and design alumni reflections on how related their career is to their postsecondary training and studies?

Of arts and design alumni in the workforce, almost half (47%) felt that their career is closely related to their field of study; 29% felt their career is somewhat related and about quarter (23%) felt that their career was not related to their studies. Feeling that their career is closely related to their field of study is significantly associated with higher rates of alumni feeling ​‘very satisfied’ across each measure of job satisfaction, even after controlling for the influence of having arts- or design-related duties as part of one’s work and self-employment.

Forty-six percent (46%) of alumni in the workforce felt that their career ​‘very much’ drew upon the skills and abilities developed at their arts and design alma mater. About one-third (35%) felt their career drew on such skills ​‘somewhat’, while 13% thought their career drew ​‘very little’ and 6% felt their career did ​‘not at all’ draw on such skills. 

Seventy percent (70%) of alumni in the workforce felt that having a degree in arts, design or a related management field has been ​‘very important’ or ​‘important’ to advancing a career in arts or design. Almost one-fifth (19%) felt that having such a degree has been ​‘slightly important, while 10% has felt that it has not been important.

The 2022 SNAAP data offers contemporary and nuanced insights on traditionally used, employment-focused measures of student outcomes. In addition, these data reveal important insights into alumni reflections on their satisfaction with that employment while providing additional perspectives on what motivates them toward different types of employment and their priorities for the work that they do. While there will continue to be varying definitions of success, this report offers a contemporary look at ways to understand how alumni today are evolving their own terms of success. This report’s findings offer perspective on the ways in which alumni feel satisfied in their varied approaches to work and in how they apply artistry, skills, and abilities in their careers, and perspective on the argument to ​“broaden” what success is initially addressed with SNAAP data over a decade ago (Lindemann et al., 2012, p. 21).