12/9/2019 Why are millennials shifting towards creative careers - The Times Of India - Bangalore, 12/9/2019

Why are millennials shifting towards

creative careers
There has been a sharp rise in enrolment in offbeat courses but
most parents continue to be sceptical about letting their children
take the creative route, reports Sharangee Dutta
The Indian education system has long been defined by its rote-learning method and textbook-centric
teaching. The archaic learning pattern has been blamed for taking away creative thinking from the
young minds and embracing creative careers is low on their choices.

While some changes are seen in the education system with CBSE introducing art-integrated courses,
Delhi government mandating entrepreneurship curriculum and NEP emphasising on creative courses, a
change in the mindset will help in nurturing the natural creativity among youngsters.

One of the key reasons behind this shift is the dissolution of several traditional jobs, says Rimi B
Chatterjee, professor, Department of English, Jadavpur University, Kolkata. “In the 50s-70s, the Indian
economy absorbed large numbers of standardised rote-trained technicians and service providers in
PSU, manufacturing and infrastructure firms. But there has been a worldwide slowdown in these
sectors, and various jobs have been automated.”

UNCONVENTIONAL AVENUES

All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) report 2018-19 shows that the enrolments in
conventional streams such as engineering (BTech and MTech) have witnessed a decline of 6,37,781 in
the last five years.

But, takers in creative courses including those in fine arts, fashion designing and technology, design,
linguistics, and more, have increased across various disciplines in the last two years. A total of 53,213
students took up various Fine Arts programmes in 2018-19 as against 52,414 in 2017-18. Besides,
enrolments in Design courses have risen from 20,844 in 2017-18 to 22,545 in 2018-19.

These figures are a result of the creation of new jobs and branches of current jobs that did not exist
earlier, says Indrajit Neogi, HOD, Film and Video Design, MIT Institute of Design, Pune.

“Taking the example of Indian cinema, one cannot overlook how social media and digitisation have
impacted it. Earlier, one could not think of streaming videos online or producing shows and films
exclusively for digital platforms. This progress has generated novel job roles in video and film editing,
production, scriptwriting, sound recording, etc. Thus, the uncertainty related to building a career in
such offbeat fields has subsided to some extent,” he says.

Besides traditional jobs not being rewarding anymore, says Chatterjee, students today no longer rely on
their parents to make decisions for them.

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Also, parents have become far openminded and keen on encouraging their children to follow their
dreams. “This has happened due to the various job roles that have opened up in creative areas —
design, fine arts, writing, music, among others, which have made parents less anxious if their children
choose such a career,” adds Neogi.

NEED BETTER GOVERNANCE

Despite the rising enrolments in creative programmes, Mir Imtiyaz, head, Department of Sculpture,
Jamia Millia Islamia, refuses that parents have become receptive. He claims that a large number of
Indian parents are still sceptical about their children choosing unconventional careers. He suggests that
orientation programmes for the students and parents from the primary education level must be
introduced so that “creative fields are not merely seen as extracurricular activities but as subjects for
potential job prospects”.

Neogi highlights that India lacks a structured policy to promote creative avenues and expose students
to the same. “There is a visible industry-academia gap due to which students often have no knowledge
of the creative jobs”.

DIVERSE ECOSYSTEM

The rate at which automation is currently underway, more traditional jobs will soon take a backseat. To
address its impact, the trend of grooming students for the corporate culture must be changed. “We need
more entrepreneurship in arts and culture wherein creative people have the right space to learn from
and teach one another,” says Chatterjee.

“In foreign nations, students can freely chase their dreams and make a living out of their passion.
Fostering such an environment will make students take the road less travelled, and not settle for careers
that solely offer the benefits of a fat cheque and fixed working hours,” says Neogi, adding that creative
aspirants must be truly confident about their ambition before opting for niche careers.

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