My DPhil research seeks to understand the role of Higher Education in the career trajectories of the creative worker, using graduates in the Advertising and Marketing sector as a case study. In a policy space that for decades has valorised economic output as the baseline justification for investment, both universities and the arts world have been under pressure to prove their worth. However, under the current Labour Government, policy focus has shifted slightly to reprioritise the UK’s Creative Industries, as detailed in the 2025 Modern Industrial Strategy, and this research responds to concerns around skills gaps being a hinderance to economic growth. Seeking to broaden perspectives of university’s purpose beyond just skills acquisition, I will be asking early-career graduates to reflect on their university experience relative to their current career path, understanding how it may or may not have developed them professionally, creatively, and personally. By understanding their comprehensive journeys, I will also be seeing how Higher Education interacts with other formative experiences to make graduates work-ready, and how certain profiles and characteristics may lend themselves to success. This should act as a response to questions over the purpose and value of Higher Education, adding to debates arguing for a move away from utilitarian and marketized understandings, as well as further exploration of the cultivation of creativity in a HE setting. It should also narrativize the challenges faced by graduates in their early careers, demonstrate how they may or may not be changing with contemporary developments such as AI, and add to our understanding of the inequalities that persist in the area and where intervention may be most useful to ensure the future success of British creative output.
My choice to specialise in Education is primarily rooted in my experience as a first-generation student from a working-class family who can recognise the systemic barriers that exist for disadvantaged groups in society, and the potential of education to overcome them. Graduating with a First-Class BA in History and International Relations from the University of Exeter in 2020, in 2021 I undertook an MSc in Higher Education at the University of Oxford, graduating with a Distinction. To gain professional experience before embarking on my DPhil, I worked with underprivileged students from across the UK as an Outreach Officer for the University between 2022 and 2024. This was highly rewarding as an opportunity to support young people in a similar position to me at their age and enriched my understanding of the British education system and student experience beyond academic debate. In the meantime I also became a reviewer for The Journal of Higher Education and spoke at several conferences. My research interests are a blend of my desire to pursue societal justice and equity in my career ambitions and my personal investment in the importance of the arts to humanity as someone who finds solace and connection in artistic activity. Post-DPhil I hope to use my skills in the policy-world where I can enact positive change.
