Extra qualifications are becoming more important for everyone, and the arts sector is not immune. Just about everyone feels like one degree or diploma is not enough. But it’s not especially about the piece of paper in the arts. For some undertaking further studies is about taking the time to develop a deeper understanding of their craft, while for others it’s a way to grab hold of the additional skills they need to keep up with a fast changing world.
For a lot of people in the arts there weren’t undergraduate let alone masters degrees around when they were starting out and, well it didn’t really matter; a diploma could kick things off and then they’d learn by doing. It was particularly true in the performing arts, notes Prof. Su Baker, Director of the Victorian College of the Arts. But the landscape has completely changed, she says, ‘students can start at an undergraduate level and know that there are all these different pathways right up to PhD – it’s very different.’
