According to research, youngsters from working-class backgrounds are being blocked from accessing the creative industries, which remain elitist.
Research conducted by Sutton Trust discovered stark overrepresentation in the arts for this from the affluent backgrounds, primarily defined as the “upper-middle-class backgrounds.”
About 43% of best-selling classical musicians and 35% of the Bafta-nominated actors in the UK are alumni of private schools. However, only 7% of the people attend private fee-paying schools.
Also, about 58% of classical musicians attended arts specialist universities, and a quarter participated at the Royal Academy of Music for their degree programs. Students from wealthy backgrounds mostly dominate these schools. About 12% of musicians attended Oxbridge.
Per the report, “There are apparent class inequalities in creative higher education and the creative workforce, with high-profile creative figures in fields like television more likely to have attended private school and university than the population overall …
“It also means many talented young people from poorer homes are blocked from highly sought-after careers in the arts.”
According to the charity, access to creative degree programs such as music and arts was skewed towards the upper middle-class backgrounds at certain schools. For instance, Cambridge, Oxford, King’s College London, and Bath have over half of their students in creative programs from wealthy backgrounds.
The trust advocates for measures to improve access to creative programs. It recommends introducing “art premiums” to enable schools to pay for art opportunities such as music lessons and ensure that universities and creative institutions receive state funding.
The trust spearheading social mobility from birth to the workplace added that the broader value of creative degree courses should be considered when making policy decisions and funding higher education. It claims that measuring the quality of innovative programmes on graduate earnings alone didn’t consider the nature of the sector with its prevalence of unpaid internships and freelance work.
It is also establishing a partnership with the British Screen Forum, which aims to address socioeconomic through targeted skills and career initiatives.
The chief of the trust, Nick Harrison, stated: “It’s a tragedy that young people from working-class backgrounds are the least likely to study creative arts degrees, or break into the creative professions. These sectors bear the hallmarks of being elitist – those from upper middle-class backgrounds, and the privately educated are significantly over-represented.”
According to Harrison, the British creative industry is admired around the world. However, no youngster “should be held back from reaching their full potential, or from pursuing their interests and dream career, due to their socioeconomic background”.
He added: “it was essential that action is taken to ensure access to high quality creative education in schools, and to tackle financial barriers to accessing creative courses and workplace opportunities”.
