Creative Dreams, Crushed: Cumulative Inequalities and Intersectionality in Creative Career Aspirations and Attainment

• In Event: Saturday Roundtable Session 1:15 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Critical Quantitative and Mixed Methods to Illuminate Educational Injustice (Table 4)

Abstract

As young people aspire to creative careers (in the arts, culture, entertainment, and related fields), cultural context and economic realities make these dreams seem more attainable to some than others. This study investigates inequalities in creative career aspirations and attainment at the intersections of race/ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status (SES) in adolescence and early adulthood. Using the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002, descriptive statistics and chi-square tests of independence were implemented. Disparities by race/ethnicity and SES were significant both independently and when intersected with other sociodemographics. Racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities were also most pronounced among girls. This study contributes unique nationally representative, longitudinal documentation of intersectional disparities and changes over time in creative aspirations and attainment.

Authors

• Lindsey Kunisaki, University of California - Los Angeles

• Guan Saw, Claremont Graduate University