Right now:
80% of those working in our creative industries don’t hold formal creative qualifications.
Over 80% of those who do earn creative qualifications do not enter the sector.
This mismatch tells us that while our higher education system produces talented graduates, it often fails to connect them with a creative career. At the same time, the creative sector is now the country’s fourth largest export earner, more productive than agriculture, and central to how Aotearoa presents itself on the world stage.
So what is being done to address this misalignment?
I benefited from arts education from a young age, but many learners today do not have the same exposure. Creative subjects were visible to me at primary, intermediate and secondary school, which meant I could imagine them as a pathway. That early exposure is vital.
Over the past decade we have seen arts subjects decline across many schools. When those opportunities disappear, the visibility of creative careers disappears with them, filtering through to higher education and affecting the number of learners who see the creative industries as a viable option.
I have seen this firsthand managing creative industries vocational programmes. The pattern is consistent: the less exposure learners have to a discipline, the less likely they are to consider it as a career. By the time learners are considering tertiary options, their sense of what is possible is already largely formed. Which means we cannot fix this issue at tertiary level alone.
If we want to address the disconnect between education and industry, we need to think about the entire learning pipeline. Schools, tertiary providers and industry need to work together to show learners what creative work looks like in practice.
There is evidence that fewer learners are choosing arts subjects when given the option. But we should also ask whether the choices reflect the careers that now exist. The creative industries include fields that barely existed a generation ago.
I remember visiting Southland primary schools to talk to children about animation. They were transfixed by the idea that someone could actually become an animator. A week later I received a large pile of illustrated letters from these children. I still have them. They captured the moment when something abstract suddenly became real — when creativity shifted from something they enjoyed to something they could do in the world.
If we want a creative economy, we need to support pipelines that help learners make that connection early: exposure, mentorship, industry engagement, and clear pathways. I know we have passionate teachers who want young people to see creative careers as possible. Now we need stronger cooperation and support across the sector, building pathways that show learners creativity is not just something they enjoy — but something they can build a future around.
