Connecting creativity, confidence, and unconventional career plans

ABSTRACT

Previous research suggests that creativity training is effective in academic settings, and that creative skills are increasingly important for success within unconventional careers such as self-employment or starting a business. This study extends research on creativity and entrepreneurial training in higher education, using data from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). Responses from over 64,000 seniors at 274 different U.S. colleges and universities were used to explore whether exposure to creative coursework and confidence in creative thinking skills can predict future entrepreneurial career plans. The results of binary logistic regression models suggest that creative coursework and confidence in creative ability are significant positive predictors of future plans for self-employment and starting a business, even after controlling for demographic and institutional characteristics. These findings can help to enrich educational experiences within higher education, informing curricular enhancements and career advising for students across all disciplines.

KEYWORDS:

• Creative coursework
• confidence
• creative thinking
• entrepreneurship
• career plans

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The NSSE data set is proprietary and not currently available for free public use. Syntax for all analyses included in this paper are available from the authors upon request.

Human subjects statement

The data collection and analysis adhere to all human subject guidelines, as specified by the Indiana University Institutional Review Board (Protocol # 709000079), as well as with the Institutional Review Boards of all institutions participating in the study.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.

Notes on contributors

Angie L. Miller

Angie L. Miller is an Associate Research Scientist at Indiana University Bloomington. Her research interests include creativity in educational settings, factors impacting gifted student engagement and achievement, and arts education.

Paula Alvarez Huerta

Paula Alvarez Huerta is a postdoctoral researcher at Mondragon University. Her research interests include creative and entrepreneurial self-efficacy, critical thinking, and student engagement in higher education.