Article

Australian Journal of Career Development

2014, Vol. 23(2) 57–68
Understanding Australian ethnic ! Australian Council for
Educational Research 2014
minority artists’ careers Reprints and permissions:
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DOI: 10.1177/1038416214521400
acd.sagepub.com

Huong Le
School of Management and Marketing, Deakin University, Australia

Uma Jogulu
School of Business, Monash University, Malaysia

Ruth Rentschler
School of Management and Marketing, Faculty of Business and Law, Deakin University, Australia

Abstract
This article examines the degree to which Australian ethnic minority artists possess or do not possess the career capitals
necessary to develop their artistic journey. We listened to stories of career experiences that show how artists learn to
negotiate their way by developing their career paths. The study found that ethnic minority artists possess more cultural
capital than economic and social capitals, thus limiting their career to attain hierarchy and power in creative institutions.
Ethnic minority artists can use strategies to manage career, boosting economic, social capitals and to a lesser extent
cultural capital. This article adds to the current literature on the utility of Bourdieu’s forms of capital, contextualising
voices of artists to account for their experiences in managing the process of advancement which both facilitates and
limits their career-related opportunities.

Keywords
Artist, careers, Bourdieu, ethnic minorities, social capital, economic capital, cultural capital

2003, p. 13). Artists, like craftspeople, are both intern-

Introduction
To what extent do ethnic minority artists (EMA) draw
on different forms of capitals to navigate their careers?
This study uses Bourdieusian theory to explain and
illustrate career experiences of EMA in order to
understand the factors that contribute to the inequal-
ities that prevail within career paths. While Bourdieu
did not focus his perspective on the topic of artists’
career progression, Bourdieu’s forms of capitals pro-
vide a framework to study their subjective career
experiences as artist. In this paper, we investigate
three forms of capital known as ‘social’, ‘cultural’
and ‘economic’ and argue that the imbalance in the
capitals influences career outcomes of artists.
We adopt a comprehensive definition of ‘artist’ as
any person, professional or non-professional, ‘who
creates or gives expression to, or recreates a work of
art; who considers his [sic] artistic creation to be
an essential part of his life’ (Throsby & Hollister,
ally driven by passion and a desire for quality, as well
as externally seeking rewards (Banks, 2010). Our
focus is on artists at the community level, with
ethnic minority backgrounds, who share a language,
cultural origin, race and religion (Hawkins, Best, &
Coney, 1992) that is a minority in relation to the
mainstream population. In other words, they are not
of white British descent (i.e. Anglo-Saxon, Anglo
Celtic). Community is defined as relating to
common interests in artistic events of artists who are
semi-professional, working at the local level, through
which artists develop the subjective feeling of commu-
nity belonging. Sociologists such as Bourdieu empha-
sise that community provides opportunities for shared
identity through social interaction (Fujimoto,
Rentschler, Le, Edwards, & Härtel, 2013). We
extend that understanding by investigating EMAs in
their communities in Australia and how they interact
with arts managers and/or arts organisations.

Corresponding author:
Huong Le, Deakin University, 221 Burwood Highway, Burwood, VIC 3125, Australia Burwood, Victoria 3125, Australia.
Email: huong.le@deakin.edu.au
58
Our definition of career is holistic, taking
into account EMAs’ independence in their work,
self-management, working for a number of clients
outside any one organisation and work-life balance
(Clinton, Totterdell, & Wood, 2006). This approach
provides us with social patterns of behaviour that lead
to valuable insights on EMAs’ careers (Murray &
Syed, 2010). The key issue for artists’ careers in gen-
eral is the limited career opportunities, where short-
term contracts force artists to manage career risk,
surviving by holding multiple jobs, making it difficult
for them to earn enough income from art work alone
(Menger, 1999; Throsby & Zednik, 2010). Artists in
general, therefore, often need to create ‘portfolio’ car-
eers (Shorthose & Strange, 2004), combining different
employment and income streams such as art work, art
teaching and non-art related work (Throsby &
Hollister, 2003).
In a context where national cultural policy
(Australian Government, 2013) recognises artists’
career development as ‘difficult’ with a need for entre-
preneurial skills (Banks, 2010), business skills, this
study is timely for artists generally and particularly
EMAs. In Australia, advocacy for the role of cultur-
ally diverse art forms within the wider arts sector has
grown since 2000s through the release of the ‘Arts in a
multicultural Australia’ (AMA) by the Australia
Council (2006), the Federal Government’s arts fund-
ing and advisory body. The AMA policy shows that
artists from multicultural backgrounds are under-
represented in most artistic categories relative to
their proportions within the general Australian work-
force and population. Prideaux and Creed (2002) in
their review of the Australian Journal of Career
Development and its role in the advancement of
career development theory, also call for more
Australian focused research, including research
related to indigenous and ethnic minorities. This
study is, therefore, important to understand EMAs’
careers as their artistic activities potentially enrich
overall community development in a multicultural
society.
This article makes two main contributions to the
literature. First, our research is the first known study
to apply Bourdieu’s notion of capital to explain the
subjective experiences of EMAs at the community
level. Second, the study argues that in line with
national cultural policy, artists could be more entre-
preneurial in influencing social and economic capitals
and, thus, better navigate the wider artistic field.
EMAs can use strategies to manage career, enhancing
economic and social capitals. By analysing EMAs
using Bourdieu’s theoretical lens to understand how
EMAs navigated their capital for their career devel-
opment, our study adds to Bridgstock’s (2005) study
on challenges faced by Australian professional artists
and their engagement in a protean-type career.
In the next section, we review the literature on art-
ists’ careers, and then Bourdieu’s forms of capitals
Australian Journal of Career Development 23(2)
and their relevance to explain EMAs’ careers. We
then present the findings of how EMAs navigate
their capitals for career progression, concluding with
recommendations for EMAs’ careers.
Literature review
Few studies look at how artists use their social or
professional networks to develop careers. Some
empirical studies suggest that permanent employment
in some areas of the arts could be advantaged as a
result of artists’ networks (Greffe, 2003). Artists may
actively promote their work, as is evident in Throsby
and Zednik’s study (2010) on professional Australian
artists. But we know little about how EMAs use their
networks to enhance career opportunities in wider
fields than their own ethnic minority networks.
Family and friends are the most significant network
for EMAs, but beyond them the notion of ‘knowing
whom’ in wider fields (DeFillippi & Arthur, 1994) is
requisite to a successful portfolio career for artists.
Artists, states Bourdieu (1983), may have a pri-
mary occupation which provides their main source
of income but is not always artistic (c.f., Bennett &
Stanberg, 2006), and a secondary occupation which
provides little income. Scholars perceive artists as
receiving limited financial return from artistic prod-
ucts, limited employment opportunities to earn
income as an artist, resulting in struggles with work-
life balance (Karhunen, 1996; Menger, 1999; Throsby,
1996a). As a result, a common scenario of artists’
employment worldwide is freelance employment,
self-employment, unemployment and under-
employment, indicating low levels of financial security
(Throsby & Zednik, 2010).
Similarly, a government report shows that only 6%
of EMAs earn a living from their art but all want their
principal income to be from their art-related jobs
(Rentschler, Le, & Osborne, 2008). In a US study,
immigrant dancers in New York combined ‘their
roles as ‘glamorous artists’ with low-skilled occupa-
tions to make ends meet’ (Viladrich, 2005, p. 547).
In Bourdieu’s terms, they had high symbolic capital
but low economic capital. Economists agree that art-
ists’ income is not always positively correlated with
the time and effort spent on their art and levels of
qualifications (Karhunen, 1996; Menger, 1999). In
other words, economists do not see symbolic capital
as fungible until it is legitimised by earning power.
Thus, many artists’ working lives are in
micro-enterprises rather than as employees (Menger,
1999). They have disrupted, sub-optimal employment
(Throsby, 1996b), minimising occupational risk by
holding multiple jobs (Bridgstock, 2005; Brooks, 2002).
Artists are well educated: 65% have tertiary quali-
fications, compared with 25% in the Australian work-
force (Throsby & Zednik, 2010). Paradoxically,
despite their high educational level, many supplement
meagre incomes from their art by other work.
Le et al.
In short, they earn much less than other people
with similar education, training and experience.
Artists’ careers, then, are risky. It seems that artists
are generally rich in cultural capital, especially in rela-
tion to their education and training.
Artists’ preferences are for practising their art
rather than marketing their artistic products. Artists
have little awareness of the value of effective market-
ing (Kubacki & Croft, 2006). Further, an Australian
study found artists promote their work, but many
need an agent to help market their work (Throsby &
Zednik, 2010). Half of them recognised their business
skills were inadequate. This is not surprising. Other
studies have found that artists (in England and
Poland) wanted to be ‘musicians’ but were ‘leaving
the entrepreneurial aspect of their work to marketers’
(Kubacki & Croft, 2006, p. 341). Despite limited busi-
ness skills, artists commit to their art because of
intrinsic needs or ‘passion and self-motivation’
(Abbing, 2002; Brooks, 2002).
While Bridgstock (2013) is not always explicit
about whether her work relates to western or non-
western cultures, various issues and findings further
validate the approach taken in our study. She argues
for entrepreneurial skills for artists, recognising the
different drivers for artists versus business people,
where the former are driven by passion or ‘commit-
ment’, while the latter are driven by the commercial
imperative to make a dollar. In the arts, careers are
developed by informal social and professional con-
tacts, making mentoring more important than might
otherwise be the case (Bridgstock, 2013).
Artists require not only commitment but also man-
agement and entrepreneurial skills in order to succeed
in an artistic career. Their needs in the managerial
domain include new media and digital skills.
Unfortunately, many of them are neither interested
in nor expert in these domains, thus limiting their
career success. Nonetheless, not all artists seek to
enter the commercial world with their art production
but are content to work in a part-time capacity and
when they can (Bauer, Viola, & Strauss, 2011;
Bridgstock, 2013). In other words, artists’ careers
are not uni-dimensional but multi-factorial, depend-
ing on the mindset of the artist, the managerial, entre-
preneurial and artistic skills that they bring to their
profession, and the competition in the art market. The
‘insecurity, instability and unpredictability’ of artists’
careers (Bauer et al., 2011, p. 638) caution us to take a
nuanced approach to analysing artists’ careers and
their likely success.
Prior studies explored various aspects and status of
ethnic/immigrant artists in national and international
contexts (e.g. Ambler, 1999; Smallbone, Bertotti, &
Ekanem, 2005; Viladrich, 2005). First, racism,
English language proficiency and cultural assimilation
insignificantly affect the career advancement of
EMAs (Throsby & Hollister, 2003; Throsby &
Zednik, 2010). Yet, Throsby’s studies contradict
59
broader workforce studies where racial discrimination
is found in Australian communities, hindering work
opportunities for people born overseas (VicHealth,
2009). The highest levels of discrimination are towards
those of Middle Eastern, African and Asian heritage
(VicHealth, 2007). Other studies showed that 47% of
respondents born in non-English speaking countries
reported discrimination because of their ethnicity at
some time in their lives (Markus & Dharmalingham,
2007). Discrimination negatively affects various
aspects of people’s health and well-being, including
social and economic indicators such as employment,
housing, income and education (Australian Bureau of
Statistics (ABS), 2007; Dunn, Forrest, Burnley, &
McDonald, 2004). If this is the case, EMAs may
experience additional difficulties in developing careers
as artists in Australia.
Second, Ambler (1999) discusses the nature of art
amongst Indigenous people of North America,
explaining how this integral nature of art has resulted
in many indigenous artists not being aware of effective
marketing, arguing that this is an important skill that
needs to be taught. Viladrich (2005) investigates recip-
rocal relationships between immigrant tango dancers
and health professionals in New York. She indicates
that, these immigrant artists often experienced similar
problems to other immigrants, including holding
undocumented statuses and facing obstacles to obtain-
ing affordable health care. Rueschemeyer (1993) dis-
cusses the place of EMAs in Israel, and their struggle
for acceptance. She argues that artists’ economic dis-
advantage can actually serve to prompt the creative
urge and create the need for an artist to quickly
make money from their art, because they do not
have family or other back-up resources to fall back on.
In summary, despite convincing literature on art-
ists’ life and careers, there are two major gaps. First,
most studies view artists from an economic perspec-
tive; some studies have examined artists’ skills and
education, perceived as cultural capital. There is
little research applying Bourdieu’s cultural, social
and economic capitals to understand EMAs’ careers
and how EMAs navigate the forms of capital to
enhance their career choices. Second, understanding
EMAs’ careers at the community level remains under-
explored. The artists we studied are not superstars.
Far from it. They are community artists at the grass-
roots level who make little from their art, but who are
more likely to learn by doing than to obtain the neces-
sary skills (beyond the artistic) in their formal educa-
tion. This gap makes the role of mentors, networks
and training even more crucial for the career progres-
sion of artists. However, government in Australia
is yet to take up this challenge. It is a problem that
requires additional research in this emerging
domain of artistic careers. We contribute to the
careers’ literature by capturing these narratives and
further understanding the EMAs’ status in multicul-
tural societies.
60
Bourdieu’s social, economic
and cultural capitals
Artists, irrespective of age, ethnicity and social back-
ground have a stake in building communities. This
view seeks to provide an equal platform for minority
members to participate fully in community activities
which emanates from Bourdieu where he signifies that
human relationships are a source of social activities
(Bourdieu, 1984). Therefore, Bourdieu’s theory of
capitals provides an analytical frame and a consistent
approach to studying ethnic minorities as it has strong
links to the inequalities in different sectors of society,
with a focus on social class relations and gender rela-
tions (Tatli & Özbilgin, 2011). Scholars have exam-
ined careers of Australian professional artists (e.g.
Bridgstock, 2005; Throsby & Zednik, 2011) and the
influence of culture and religion on career choices of
ethnic minority Muslim girls (Irving & Barker, 2004).
However, there is little evidence that careers of EMAs
have been examined based on Bourdieu’s theory of
social, economic and cultural capitals, despite the
interest that has been shown in artists’ careers to date.
Social capital includes actual or virtual resources,
such as personal relationships and networks, which
accumulate for individuals or groups (Bourdieu,
1990). This means that if an individual is part of a
network or a specific demographic, this network may
help or hinder career opportunities. Social capital
helps us understand how EMAs use networks to bene-
fit career progression.
Economic capital provides freedom for economic
necessity, which may or may not come with flair for
social capital (Bourdieu, 1983), as economic success
may well signal a barrier to symbolic power.
Economic capital offers a powerful explanation for
EMAs’ career circumstances in our study as it
shows the relationship between external sources and
EMAs’ efforts to develop their careers.
Cultural capital is seen as a form of knowledge,
competencies or dispositions, internalised over years
of family, education and social interactions
(Bourdieu, 1977, 1986). It equips individuals with
the ability to decipher social codes, through language,
education, experience and qualifications that provide
status and skills. Individual skills such as business,
marketing and technology are part of cultural capital.
Cultural capital embodies beauty, creativity, individu-
ality and achievement (Holt, 1997). Cultural capital,
therefore, is relevant to our study as it helps to explain
the relationship between artists’ education/training,
experience, their skill sets and career opportunities.
Scholars have argued that there are two benefits to
using Bourdieu’s theory of capitals in management
research. First, it provides a theoretical framework
anchored in empirical research (Chudzikowski &
Mayrhofer, 2011). Second, it provides a multi-level
framework for analysis that recognises complex inter-
play in social reality (Özbilgin, Küskü, & Erdoğmuş,
Australian Journal of Career Development 23(2)
2005). In particular, Bourdieu’s framework is useful
for our study as it explains career experiences of accu-
mulation and deployment of capital so as to encom-
pass individual, organisational and macro-contextual
influences that affect career choices (Özbilgin & Tatli,
2005). This is particularly relevant to our understand-
ing of the relationship between artists’ forms of
capital and career choices.
Methods
In order to study the degree to which EMAs possess
and mobilise the capitals necessary to develop their
careers using Bourdieu’s framework, we employ a
qualitative methodology. It allows us to understand
individuals’ subjective experiences through narrative.
Data collection
Data were collected using several methods including
focus groups, web log interviews and in-depth inter-
views. Using multiple sources of evidence helped us to
triangulate the data to strengthen the validity of the
study, identifying narratives of artists and arts man-
agers’ careers. Seven focus groups of EMAs
(62 respondents) and web log interviews with EMAs
(11 respondents) were conducted. Hobby artists were
excluded by asking screening questions about how
often they practised their art and whether they
earned their living from their art. To provide insight
from key stakeholders, we interviewed 32 arts man-
agers in professional arts organisations, and migrant
community officers/coordinators in metropolitan and
regional Western Australia (WA). Arts manager inter-
views lasted approximately 45 to 60 min. We chose to
interview arts managers and artists to help us to
understand the matter from multiple lenses within
the community and broader professional arts fields.
A total of 103 people from WA agreed to participate
in this study.
Each focus group discussion lasted 1.5–2.5 h and
was composed of people from different cultural back-
grounds. In order to overcome the potential biases
inherent in cross-cultural research by the researcher’s
own cultural framework (Fagenson, 1990), the inter-
views and focus groups were conducted by three
researchers: one Vietnamese-born and one English-
born and another United States-born. Our profes-
sional experience and knowledge in conducting and
analysing cross-cultural research enabled us to be
more sensitive when conducting interviews with
EMAs and analysing the data. The experience and
sensitivity also helped us understand EMAs lan-
guage expression, as well as see the significance and
connections between concepts in the data (Corbin &
Strauss, 2008).
All focus groups and interviews of artists and arts
managers were conducted in English with experienced
moderators/interviewers, as most of participants
Le et al.
could speak English fluently, except for one focus
group of Burundi (recent) migrants, who required
an interpreter. All interviews and focus group discus-
sions were digitally recorded, then transcribed, with
one exception, where notes were taken as participants
did not consent to recording. Recruitment of respond-
ents was supported by the Office of Multicultural
Interests and Western Australia’s Department of
Culture and the Arts who provided contacts for arts
managers and migrant support officers in Western
Australia.
The three data gathering methods were conducted
simultaneously. Focus groups provided us with group
views and revealed common and different themes
within and between groups while in-depth interviews
of artists provided us with deeper perspectives on the
topic. The data from arts managers were used to tri-
angulate and enrich the data from the artists. The
interview and focus group data yielded consistent
themes, as reported in the findings and discussion sec-
tion. It is noted that the main purpose of our study
was not to compare the similarities and differences
between artists’ and arts managers’ responses or
between different data sources.
The focus groups and interview participants were
invited to discuss a number of core question areas
(semi-structured): their perceptions on employment,
career opportunities, grant applications and profes-
sional development; and their perceptions of barriers
to arts practice. Overall, the data collected were rich
and provided understanding of participants’ subject-
ive experiences. The spread of artists throughout the
state and the lack of a database of artists meant that
recruitment was arduous and time-consuming. It was
challenging to obtain homogeneous focus groups of
artists from the same, or similar, cultural back-
grounds. We also acknowledge that regional artists
are under-represented in this study and recognise
our purposive sample. However, multiple sources of
data (from artists and arts managers) were rigorously
analysed to provide new perspectives for academic
Table 1. Country of birth of artists in each artform (%).
Birthplace of Visual Music/
EMAs Dance arts composing
Australia 50 8 7
UK and Ireland – 8 – –
Other Europe 13 31 – –
Asia 13 23 11
Middle East – 15 – –
Africa – – 81
The Americas 25 15 – –
Total 100 100 100
–Indicates nil response in the sample (0%).
Cross-tabulations between two variables: birthplace and art disciplines of EMAs.
EMA: ethnic minority artists.
61
enquiry. Further, it was not always possible to link
individual quotes in the focus groups to individual
responses in the screening questionnaire, in order to
determine artists’ cultural backgrounds, age and art
disciplines (although some specific cases were
identified).
The profile of artists shows that the artists came
from diverse backgrounds, such as China, Africa,
Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, India and
Malaysia. Twenty-three percent of EMAs arrived in
Australia in the period of 1951–1990, 40% of the art-
ists arrived between 1991 and 2005 while 21% of
EMAs arrived after 2005. Table 1 shows that the lar-
gest proportion of EMAs in the study indicated they
were born in Africa (40%), followed by Australia
(16%), Asia (16%) and other European countries
(16%). While EMAs from visual art, craft and
music related disciplines tended to have diverse cul-
tural backgrounds, EMAs from dance and theatrical/
acting disciplines were often Australian-born.
Table 2 shows demographic information for the
artists. Among 73 EMAs, females outnumbered
male artists (58% vs. 42%). A majority of the artists
were in the age range from 20 to 49 years old. As
expected, artists in our sample were well-educated,
with more than half of them having either an under-
graduate or postgraduate degree. Nonetheless, 43%
of artists reported very low income (under
AUD$30,000 annually) while only 10% of the artists
earned more than AUD$50,000 per year.
The majority of arts managers were white
Australian-born (90%), averaging in their 40s.
Thirteen arts managers were males, and 19 were
females. Most of them were in senior positions in pro-
fessional arts companies or migrant support organisa-
tions in WA such as Managing Director, General
Manager or Artistic Director. The manager interviews
provided us with perspectives from different stake-
holders which helped us to see patterns in relation
to issues in EMA career opportunities. Managers’
interview data substantially enriched our findings.
Theatre/ Literature/ Craft Multi-media/
acting writing activities mix/others Total
100 – – 23 16
50 – – 3
– 50 31 16
– 50 25 15 16
– – – 3
– – 25 31 40
– – – 6
100 100 100 100 100
62 Australian Journal of Career Development 23(2)

Table 2. Demographic profile of participated artists.

Findings and discussion
%
EMAs in Australia mobilise different forms of capital
Gender Female 58 in order to develop artistic careers. We heard stories
Male 42 of successes and challenges, and sought to understand
Age 18–19 years 5 the dynamics that constitute a pool of creative
20–29 years 33 resources using the Bourdieusian theory of capitals.
30–39 years 22
40–49 years 21 Social capital: Networks
50–64 years 15
Social capital indicates how personal networks, rela-
65 plus years 4 tionships and resources accrue to an individual or
Highest level Primary school 8 group (Bourdieu, 1986). Social capital is one of the
of education Some secondary school 7 important factors for legitimising an artist inside and
Finished secondary school 8 outside their field. Eighty percent of the EMAs raised
Trade training (TAFE) 18 the need for external networks to develop their social
University (Undergraduate degree) 29 capital outside their ethnic minority community more
University (Postgraduate degree) 22 than within it. For example, one male artist said:
Others 8 ‘It would be helpful if there was a support group
Income Under A$15,000 27 that you could go to. . .’, and another female artist
A$15,000 to A$29,999 16
said: ‘Relationships are more important than any-
thing else. I think you just come across a person
A$30,000 to A$49,999 25
that you connect to and everything’s all right. You
A$50,000 plus 10
can work with people before you connect.’ EMAs’
No reply 22 lack of connection with a wider network to benefit
Language spoken English only 25 from requires support, as one told us: ‘You need to
at home Other languages 75 know people. It’s not like you’re going to run into
Total 100 people at some exhibition . . . there isn’t that more
physical network that might happen in other capital
cities . . .’ (Female artist). The views expressed indicate
that EMAs need to understand the wider artistic field,
thus developing networking skills, forging relation-
Data analysis ships and creating linkages and partnerships with
We used content analysis to analyse the interview and key members of the community and within peak
focus group data. Three researchers analysed the data arts bodies: the people who can facilitate artists’
to identify themes, subthemes and categories. career opportunities.
A coding scheme was developed, based on research One female EMA said that there is ‘little on-going
questions and the literature (Miles & Huberman, opportunity to promote your work’ making network-
1994). We divided data analysis into two stages. ing a much needed avenue for artists to showcase their
First, we identified categories in relation to factors work. If artists themselves are not making an effort to
influencing artists’ careers and participation. For speak and promote their industry and arts network,
example, some categories identified in the literature they are disadvantaged. Adding to this story is:
were ‘lack of employment opportunities’ or ‘network- ‘ . . . people tend to stay within their own little world,
ing’. Second, we analysed the data in the light of communities that have always worked with this artist
Bourdieu’s framework to see to what extent artists on this project’ (Female manager, 50 s). A female arts
accumulate capital in relation to their career manager in her middle years said, ‘The main problem
opportunities. we have is people not knowing who we are and what
If there was disagreement in coding and analysis, we do [at the peak body]. That’s my main challenge:
we reanalysed the data in light of the literature and to promote the heck out of us’. They are aware that
the theoretical framework, comparing and contrasting limited networking opportunities also limit informa-
different data sources (e.g. from artists’ focus groups tion flow and communication within the arts sector.
and arts managers’ interviews) until agreement was This reiterates how dispersed the artistic fields are.
reached. Overall inter-rater reliability in coding We acknowledge peak arts bodies, which are an
between the three researchers was improved overtime: important part of the field, promoting and supporting
it started at 75% and increased to 95% after analysing EMAs’ social capital. Thirty percent of arts managers
two transcripts. We saw this as an ongoing process. interviewed described activities of their organisations
Hence, we re-read and refined data to verify and syn- to assist EMAs. For example, the General Manager of
thesise themes. We drew conclusions in relation to a multicultural arts organisation told us how she seeks
EMAs’ career perceptions and Bourdieu’s capitals. to legitimise EMAs artistic endeavours and provide
Le et al.
them with opportunities to develop their social
presence:
. . . we provide this venue and performance opportu-
nities, but we also have an advocacy role, so that if
artists come to us and want help with funding appli-
cations or help to promote their work or network
connections and things like that, we put them in
touch with people . . . (Female manager, 40s).
Another manager told us about her organisation,
which focuses on country arts: ‘we fund a community
arts project directly and the criteria are specifically
supportive of multicultural arts and indigenous arts.
So when people apply if there are specific references to
diversity . . . the panel is likely to fund those projects’
(Female manager, 40s). This type of support helped
EMA’s to develop within their ethnic field.
Nonetheless, a majority of EMAs still felt outside
the wider artistic field. EMAs indicated that there was
a lack of connection between government depart-
ments, arts organisations, ethnic communities and
EMAs, revealing their sense of isolation due to inad-
equate knowledge of the wider artistic field. One male
arts manager expressed this as: ‘Artists don’t know
what they don’t know’. He was implying that artists
lacked knowledge of available assistance pro-
grams and funding schemes, and where to find infor-
mation or to seek help. Another mature male arts
manager said,
If you’re not known and if you don’t know people,
then no one is going to seek you out. That is a big
thing in WA. You need to know people. It’s not like
you’re going to run into them at some exhib-
ition . . . there isn’t that more physical network that
might happen in other capital cities.
He implied that EMAs are disadvantaged in
developing networks because they have no connection
with other artists and arts funding bodies which might
benefit their career.
To make matters more complex, few EMAs
showed evidence of accumulating social capital
through teamwork. The EMAs we interviewed
raised issues of the lack of communication and con-
nection in the arts and communities, and mentioned
that they would like to have connections with main-
stream artists to exchange artworks. As outsiders,
they were generating negative perceptions about the
wider artistic field. Networks and teamwork are
tightly connected, so evidence of counter-normative
behaviours reflected by EMAs limit their social cap-
ital in the field.
While networks are seen to advance people’s inter-
ests and provide mutual recognition, and are based on
social connections and group or class membership,
our findings show that a majority of artists need to
develop professional or personal networks beyond
63
their communities. The current finding adds a new
dimension to the existing literature (i.e. Greffe, 2003)
on how artists use their networks as social capital to
enhance career opportunities, the lack of accumula-
tion of social capital inhibits the development of other
forms of capital. In the absence of a well-developed
broad network, artists are less successful in their
attempts to participate in the arts field. Further, the
lack of networks and unity between EMAs further
impacts economic capital.
Economic capital: Opportunity, resources
The largest issue raised by EMAs and arts managers
was the lack of opportunities and resources for
EMAs’ employment and capital building. Of the
sample of artists, 95% reported this view, for exam-
ple, one female EMA told us that she obtained ‘a
smattering of work’ which was ‘unpredictable and
irregular’. City-based and regionally based EMAs
stated that the opportunities (in a range of art
forms, particularly theatre, visual arts, fashion and
some types of handcraft) were so limited that it was
impossible to make a living from art: ‘I’m trying to
remember over the time I’ve been working in
WA . . . potential employment opportunities as
opposed to relying on your own reputation and self-
employment, and they’ve been very, very few’ (male
artist); or ‘ . . . as a visual artist: employment, zero’
(female artist). Further, if there is an opportunity to
show their works, it is often one-off, rather than an
ongoing opportunity. Sometimes, due to funding
restrictions, there are instances where positions and
resources that are available now may not exist next
year. We hear distressing narratives from 40% of the
EMAs of all ages and ethnicities; for example, ‘costs
of putting on art displays are high; we don’t know
what to do’; ‘Multicultural services used to provide
help but it no longer exists. We don’t know where
to go’.
Artists who work as arts managers were perceived
as more capable in negotiating employment and con-
ditions to improve artists’ economic value. They had
become insiders, with knowledge of the wider artistic
field. These perceptions decrease interest in stake-
holders working to develop the artistic field, hence
reinforcing the view of outsiders that the arts are
under-resourced. Ninety-five percent of arts managers
had the same view as artists with regard to limited
opportunities, as the following representative example
shows, ‘ . . . there are not as many career opportunities
for artists . . . It’s very hard for anyone in Perth, to
develop a professional career’ (Female manager); or
‘ . . . art is a bloody hard business. Most of the artists
have two, three or sometimes four income streams
while they develop their practice. It’s always going
to be a challenging business to get into’ (Male man-
ager). EMAs also argued that the dearth of audiences
created an external barrier for them. They saw
64
audiences as unwilling to explore or engage with art-
istic output that was not familiar to them: ‘audiences
just don’t understand’. Thus, the lack of opportunity
to showcase their art work has impacted on how
many paintings an artist can sell, for example. As a
result, artists who attempted to improve their eco-
nomic capital have to expand their economic out-
comes by engaging in activities that benefit them
such as networking, negotiating or marketing.
Furthermore, a majority of EMAs saw lack of
resources—facilities, finances, funding—as barriers
to their economic capital. Lack of resources was men-
tioned in relation to the absence of appropriate places
in which to rehearse or create art or store equipment.
One female EMA told us, ‘We cannot get funding
because everyone wants something new, it is not
viable to run a gallery full time through the year’.
Another female EMA said, ‘If you want to have
somewhere to show your work you have to pay’.
Second, the costs associated with putting on an artis-
tic performance, exhibition and production could be a
hurdle: ‘Artists have been kicked out of the city and
you can’t find anything unless you’re prepared to pay.
How can you pay on a very low income?’ Third, a lack
of resources to practise art was an ongoing issue for
artists, irrespective of their background. Artists often
cited access to external funding as a problem.
Specifically, a female artist mentioned that the appli-
cation processes and guidelines were difficult to
understand: ‘Even for those people born in
Australia, with English as their first language, a
grant application is difficult because they are creative
people . . . ’ These data indicate that most EMAs are
outside the wider artistic field, creating career barriers.
In some ways, they have identified the difficulties
they need to overcome in order to improve their eco-
nomic status. But the problem is that, to implement
strategies to improve their economic capital, EMAs
need to be embedded in the artistic field so that they
can obtain relevant skills as part of their cultural
capital.
EMAs perceived lack of employment opportunities
as a major barrier to arts participation, implying that
they possess a low level of economic capital. We know
that working in micro-enterprises, they are likely to be
self-employed, unemployed and under-employed
(Throsby & Zednik, 2010). Our findings demonstrate
that artists face significant challenges in order to
obtain regular work, unless they develop skill sets.
While numerous reasons were offered, the
Australian Government (2013) concluded that artistic
careers are ‘difficult’ with a need for artists to be
‘entrepreneurial’ (Banks, 2010). Frustrated opportun-
ity and multiple job holding are reported widely in
both Australian and international literature on art-
ists’ employment (i.e. Shorthose & Strange, 2004;
Throsby & Zednik, 2011), but is not the only reason
for lack of career development for EMAs, as our
data show.
Australian Journal of Career Development 23(2)
Cultural capital: Qualifications and skills
Cultural capital is underpinned by the individual’s
field and influences the way EMAs navigate life.
This includes people’s understanding of the immediate
environment, their expertise in language and eti-
quette, academic training and the capacity to man-
oeuvre through the system to build cultural capital.
EMAs have specific disadvantages if they have
immigrated to Australia. They do not possess
knowledge of Australian culture or the arts, or hold
recognised qualifications in their field. Unfortunately,
this can also influence EMAs’ deployment of cultural
capital.
While our data show that 51% of EMAs were well-
educated (had a bachelor degree or above), the nar-
ratives of our participants pointed towards the lack of
cultural capital in relation to skills when, for instance,
language becomes a barrier to career enhancement.
The need for English language skills was a recurrent
theme reported by 40% of the artists and 80% of arts
managers. Of particular concern were written English
language skills, where many EMAs and arts managers
reported that the major career challenge was their
inability to construct a funding application. For
example, a female musician told us: ‘. . . if I write a
grant application in Spanish, nobody understands.
Getting a grant depends on your language skills
more than the quality of your work’. Others held simi-
lar views: ‘with my English, I know I can’t talk and
write’; or ‘Where can you get help to write?’; or ‘Grant
submissions with excellent artistic content and integ-
rity are not being funded due to the quality of the
submission, but lesser works are’; and ‘. . .EMAs
should be able to access specific training in regard
to writing applications. Language is important for
success’. Language was seen as a hurdle for EMAs.
One male, experienced arts manager mentioned that,
‘ . . . the biggest barrier for participation is lan-
guage . . . ’ These comments show that although artists
may possess the technical skills required to practise
their art form, they lack distinction in English lan-
guage required to gain funding support. Some may
argue that the non-text based artists might not be
influenced by a lack of language competence to per-
form their art. However, lacking the language skills
or the ability to communicate well has an adverse
impact elsewhere, hampering their confidence to
market themselves, and to expand their networks in
the artistic field. Thus, they experience a lack of suc-
cess in competing with others, or in attracting grant
income.
Several respondents were entrepreneurial. They
illustrated their ability to self-manage and self-
promote. One young singer was savvy in using the
internet, promoting herself, obtaining work, develop-
ing her career. She capitalised on her ethnic minority
status to obtain work, stating: ‘people respond well to
my background. It brings me work’. Her approach
Le et al.
was supported by another male artist: ‘. . . if you don’t
self-market your product, it doesn’t matter whether
you’re funded or not, nothing will happen’. In the
knowledge economy, the use of technology is a pre-
requisite for a career in the arts. It is relatively inex-
pensive, giving broad and instantaneous reach. Other
young EMAs in their 20s were using technology for
marketing and self-promotion; for example: ‘. . . I’m
putting up a website, to spread the news, to do what
I have to do and have a go at business’; or were using
web-based skills and multimedia methods to promote
their art to audiences. The majority (90%), however,
relied on low-tech methods to collect information and
promote their work. These findings not only empha-
sise the importance of EMAs being entrepreneurial in
areas ancillary to the creation of art but also illustrate
the need to embrace technology for promotional pur-
poses, for learning for the future, and to enhance their
cultural capital.
Nonetheless, skill deficiencies were reflected in the
difficulties that many artists reported in their dealings
with bureaucracy and government services, impairing
their capacity for marketing and self-promotion,
showing lack of understanding of wider intersecting
fields. Some EMAs said, ‘ . . . I bumble along . . . never
getting rich doing [my work]’; or ‘I’m struggling.
I must decide whether to maintain my business
status or abandon it, but I don’t know what to do
or where to go’.
Our findings demonstrate that the EMAs are well-
qualified, consistent with other findings (Throsby &
Zednik, 2010, 2011), indicating rich cultural capital in
relation to qualifications but not career management.
This created a significant barrier to EMAs in competi-
tive job markets. Our findings, therefore, extend con-
clusions by Throsby and Hollister (2010) and
the Australian Council (1997). These findings sug-
gest that, despite a passion for arts practice, art-
ists need to develop business skill sets to overcome
obstacles and to advance their artistic careers.
We contend that EMAs have richer cultural capital
than economic and social, thus self-limiting their
career opportunities. Our findings, therefore, contrib-
ute to understanding a nexus between individuals’
career experiences and their mobilisation of forms of
capital.
Our findings offer a fresh perspective on EMAs
careers. The levels of capital evident among EMAs
interviewed indicated that a number of them have dif-
ficulty in accumulating capitals to manage their
career. We recognise that this attitude is atypical
among EMAs, who, despite the obstacles to partici-
pation reported in the literature, tend to be resilient
and resourceful. The combined frustration of ambi-
tion, social isolation, English language needs and pov-
erty weighed them down, suggesting the need to
develop further ability to accumulate and generate
forms of capital—economic, social and to a lesser
extent cultural.
65
Implications and recommendations
We found Bourdieu’s forms of capital (Bourdieu,
1986) provided understanding of EMAs in
Australia, and how they draw on social, economic
and cultural capitals to navigate careers. In short, if
EMAs could accumulate and deploy capitals effect-
ively, with good support of the arts organisations,
community and government, their career opportu-
nities may improve.
Theoretically, our study extends Bourdieu’s theory
of capitals by applying his framework to career man-
agement of EMAs at the community level. Tatli and
Özbilgin (2011) argue that as Bourdieu’s theory
focuses on social class relations, it would benefit
scholarship in workforce diversity research by explor-
ing how groups and individuals own and distribute
different capitals in organisational settings.
Therefore, we extend their study, as Bourdieu’s frame-
work can benefit EMAs’ careers in a community set-
ting. Second, we add to the literature on skilled
migrants (Al Ariss & Syed, 2011), indicating that
EMAs share common career experiences of accumu-
lation and deployment of capital with other migrants
or ethnic minority workers. Third, we argue that
together with government support, artists are
responsible for using their capitals to optimise career
opportunities, regardless of whether they are in the
protean-type career, self-employed or employed.
Practically, our findings have important implica-
tions for the arts industry. First, based on distribution
of capital, entrepreneurship is important to EMAs as
they take responsibility for their own career develop-
ment and advancement. Generally, EMAs have devel-
oped without the constraints and supports of an
institutional employer; however, they need skills in
economic, social and cultural capitals such as business
savvy in marketing, information technology and self-
promotion and networking. Finally, their education
can be boosted by providing them with these skills
early, before their worldview becomes fixed (Bennett
& Stanberg, 2006). These competencies enable artists
to move between different projects, groups and events
as part of building a portfolio career.
To enhance social capital, EMAs need to develop
wider networks, especially professional relationships
with those in the arts field who might provide oppor-
tunities and resources (Bridgstock, 2005). They need
support from stakeholders, such as government, com-
munity and education bodies. This factor refers to
‘timing the development of one’s career within an
industry context’ (Bridgstock, 2005, p. 45) as it helps
artists make choices to identify and quickly move to
new opportunities. To improve economic capital, art-
ists need knowledge of their industry: what opportu-
nities and threats exist? What factors are critical to
success? And, where are the best opportunities for car-
eer advancement? It also refers to self-knowledge—
understanding personal motives, interests and
66
meanings for pursuing a particular career, goals and
expectations (Bridgstock, 2005, p. 45). This factor
helps artists pursue their passion and their career,
and to balance work and life. Finally, to improve cul-
tural capital, especially skill sets, EMAs need commu-
nication, teamwork, problem-solving, planning,
organising, and technology and career education
from local community services.
Similar to general artists who often need to create
‘portfolio’ careers (Bridgstock, 2005; Shorthose &
Strange, 2004; Throsby & Zednik, 2011), EMAs
need to combine a number of different work options
(contract, flexible, temporary, multiple jobs) and
income streams across different sectors and allow
them to work flexibly. Finally, EMAs need guidance
from arts managers through mentorship and training.
In order for EMAs’ careers to develop, the role of
other stakeholders as external facilitators is important
in creating career opportunities, and also by providing
career training for artists as part of local services so
they can develop their portfolio.
In a context where national cultural policy
(Australian Government, 2013) recognises the difficul-
ties artists face in navigating their careers with a
demand for entrepreneurial skills (Banks, 2010), it is
notable that EMAs may choose or not to enter the
field with its perceived benefits and risks. Bourdieu’s
theory of capitals offers deeper understanding on
ethnic minorities and, more specifically, how EMAs
use capitals in careers. EMA voices tell stories of
missed opportunities and misunderstandings, but
also of struggle and success in a field less dominant
than that of mainstream artists. Some EMAs tend to
deny the economy (with the economic world reversed
in Bourdieu’s view); others embrace it. Some EMAs
do not seek to have a full time career as an artist, but
are content to work part-time with passion while they
earn money from non-art jobs. EMAs may not only
accumulate capital this way but also possess their own
forms of capital. They are informed by networks of
social positions of ethnicity, education, age and
gender, adopting (or resisting) capital accumulation
in a variety of ways.
While the notion of artists needing to have more
business or entrepreneurial skills is not new, our find-
ings reinforce the view that artists from a variety of
backgrounds need these skills. Certainly a more
balanced assessment of claims about how this
matter applies to EMAs needs further work. Our
exploratory study does not allow us to make broad
generalisations. However, we recognise that many
EMAs will never embrace the ‘business’ of art. This
is a complex issue that needs to be considered deeply
through further research. It is complicated by the fact
that many non-western cultures (e.g. Indigenous
Australians) do not normally approach art-making
on the basis of it being for economic return.
Future research could delve deeper into the fields
that EMAs inhabit, and how they are supported by
Australian Journal of Career Development 23(2)
stakeholders, such as government, philanthropists or
potential mentors (such as arts managers). Our find-
ings raise questions for future research about: How do
EMAs’ become more entrepreneurial? What roles do
stakeholders play? What role does the individual play?
What is the role of arts manager in overcoming the
obstacles to artists’ career development? As art is an
important ‘intermediary’ for social cohesion, the ques-
tion of how to use the arts and EMAs as a conduit for
community development is also posed.
Funding
The authors are grateful to the Office of Multicultural
Interests (Western Australia) for funding this project and
other individuals and arts organisations for their support,
guidance and enthusiasm.
Declaration of conflicting interests
The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank the artists and arts managers who parti-
cipated in this project. The authors would also like
to acknowledge the work of the Research Assistants:
Ms Natalie Jenkins and Ms Angela Osborne and the ano-
nymous reviewer(s) for their constructive feedback on this
paper.
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