Media Policy in the Irish Creative Industries

Skills narratives amongst media degree graduates and students: Discourses of hard and soft skills in education-to-work journeys

“…Students anticipating job hunting soon were therefore anxious that their practical and technical knowledge and experience would fall short of the standards expected of new entrants. This is despite research that suggests that media employers often value transversal skills as much as, if not more than practical skills, which can be developed in employment (O’Brien et al, 2021).…”

“…Individual workers are made responsible for meeting the needs of employers or clients through upskilling, financial investment in training, 'lifelong learning', networking and portfolio-building, all adding to the 'self-work' expected in the neoliberal creative economy (Cohen, 2016;Ouellette, 2014: 104;Randle, 2011: 150-151). As scholars have noted, and as this study of graduates demonstrated, graduates of media degrees often report feeling ill-prepared for media work and perceive themselves as lacking various skills necessary for the work, ranging from practical and technical to transversal skills (Ball et al, 2010;Bridgstock and Carr, 2013;O'Brien et al, 2021). In addition, graduates and media workers report challenging education-to-work transitions, reflecting the sometimes 'multiple entry attempts, unpaid internships, travel to follow the possibility of work, more education and/or training, and reliance on non-career jobs, family or social security for financial support' that can characterise media career commencement and development (Bridgstock and Cunningham, 2016: 12).…”

“…In addition, graduates and media workers report challenging education-to-work transitions, reflecting the sometimes ‘multiple entry attempts, unpaid internships, travel to follow the possibility of work, more education and/or training, and reliance on non-career jobs, family or social security for financial support’ that can characterise media career commencement and development (Bridgstock and Cunningham, 2016: 12). Media education is sometimes, therefore, expected to give these aspiring media workers an advantage in the competitive media labour market through skills development (Banks and Oakley, 2016; O’Brien et al, 2021). The intervention undertaken as part of this study was aimed at drawing students’ attention to the skills they had already acquired and demonstrating how they could be applied in employment contexts.…”

“…For example, many scholars have found that work experience, placements or internships are identified as helping graduates enter work, as is networking, which is a common route into media work (Ashton, 2016; Haukka, 2011; Marsden, 2011; McCabe, 2016; O’Brien and Kerrigan, 2020). O’Brien et al’s (2021) research on the education–policy–employment nexus of media in Ireland found that there was little consensus about what skills were valuable among policy-makers, educators, industry employers or graduates of media programmes, despite agencies such as Screen Skills Ireland’s (2019) focus on skills shortages in Irish CCIs. While prevalent within industry, educational and policy discourse, the ‘skills’ often referred to are not exactly defined.…”

Tools and measures for diversity and inclusion in media industries: International best practice and informing policy change in the Irish film and television sector

“…Some research has noted the ways in which policy initiatives have been conceived as a mode of addressing these issues of inequality within the film industry (Nwonka, 2020a; Nwonka and Malik, 2018). The development of diversity policy has also seen some research, with a particular focus on moving on from the numerical inclusion of under-represented groups (O'Brien et al, 2017, 2021). The tools and measures that have been developed within the industry more broadly have also been an object of research, with Nwonka (2020b) focusing on the role of data in improving diversity and inclusion and how senior white men within the industry have the power on who can enter.…”