Portfolio Careers Research Articles

Retaining doctors in emergency medicine: an ethnographic study of emergency departments in England

ObjectivesTo gain a deep understanding of factors driving retention in emergency medicine. To understand in detail the day-to-day lived experience of emergency medicine doctors, to identify and explore factors influencing...

The protean music career as a sociopolitical orientation: The mutually integrated, non-hierarchical work values of socially engaged musicians

Socially engaged, participatory music making is slowly establishing itself as a complement to musicians’ portfolio careers, although it may still be considered of less value than established concert hall practices. To gain a better understanding of the drivers toward socially engaged practice in music field, we analyzed 20 semi-structured interviews with musicians in Finland, using the lenses of work values and career orientations. The abductive, theoretical reading analysis shows that the musicians viewed the social-relational nature of their work as a fundamental feature of the practice and sought congruence between their work values and other personal values. The interviewees renounced the hierarchy between intrinsic (autonomy, creativity, variety, achievement, challenge, and intellectual stimulation) and social work values (interacting with people, altruism, and contribution to society), and found participatory practice to be artistically freeing and personally rewarding. Their work appeared less driven by extrinsic values (economic gain and status); hence, their self-directed and values-driven orientation resonates strongly with the notion of the protean career. Although their sociopolitical stance involved the risk of weakening their professional status and they had to constantly justify their work amongst their colleagues, they all expressed conscious counternarratives to what they considered the elitism of expert culture in traditional music institutions. The study argues that the practice of socially engaged musicians can help the professional field of music reconsider and transform its stubborn value hierarchies in the complex social, political, ethical, and moral landscapes of contemporary society.

Students as teachers: A study of UK undergraduate music students’ experiences and perceptions of instrumental and singing teaching

This research, carried out between 2020 and 2021, involves an online questionnaire and individual interviews with undergraduate music students at universities and conservatoires in the UK, to examine student experiences of receiving and delivering instrumental and singing tuition. There is no regulation of instrumental teaching in the UK, and individuals are able to teach without formal training or qualification. Existing literature suggests that musicians often begin teaching while still in education, though there is limited research concerning the experience of this process. This research confirms that students are involved in delivering instrumental and singing lessons before and during their undergraduate studies, often beginning with peer learning initiatives in school or ‘helping’ family and friends. The study identifies positive perceptions of the role of teaching in portfolio careers in music and highlights the influence of both instrumental teachers and classroom music teachers in shaping understandings and providing guidance and opportunities for students.

Portfolio careers: Are they the answer?

Portfolio careers: Are they the answer?

Creativity, agency, and stability: Perceptions of Canadian musicians working across the cultural domains.

This research study aims to illuminate Canadian musicians' portfolio careers across the cultural domains. Previous research has highlighted the career paths of music graduates directly after graduation, and other research has highlighted the experiences of well-known performers or pedagogues. However, little is known about music graduates who persist and establish careers in music. We interviewed twelve musicians working in a variety of Canadian cultural domains to understand their work and career paths. Their stories elucidate how artists balance income stability, artistic agency, creativity, and professional challenges to create impressive and fulfilling portfolios that enable them to use their music-based knowledge and skills in various ways. Findings from this study provide a more nuanced understanding of the scope and nature of music-related work in Canada and how artists integrate artistic and creative abilities with community needs and economic stability. These findings offer insights for emerging musicians and music graduates and have implications for educating and supporting artists who wish (or indeed need) to work across cultural domains.

Harnessing fast and slow thinking to ensure sustainability of general practice and functional universal health coverage in Australia.

Harnessing fast and slow thinking to ensure sustainability of general practice and functional universal health coverage in Australia.

“The Connection Itself was the Project”: Capstone Experiences for Emerging Professional Musicians Through WIL

During their studies, musicians transition to work-readiness, develop a professional persona and graduate from skills acquisition in a traditional master-mentor relationship towards heterarchical collaboration in ensembles. Over the final year of an undergraduate program in performance, students, faculty/industry mentors and course coordinators worked collaboratively to implement a music work integrated learning (WIL) project, culminating in public performance as a capstone experience. This phenomenological case report outlines how a student group with diverse skills formed a complex adaptive system through inclusion, connection, support, and collaboration culminating in a final public performance and this practice report. Through this process, students obtained a broad range of graduate skills as well as professional musical competencies within a functioning heterarchy. In creative and performing arts, WIL can positively produce professional outcomes that appear indistinguishable from professional practice in the industry at large. This can be a model for transformative WIL in other disciplines. In addition, this research and practice report was prepared primarily by students with a faculty mentor, providing yet another set of graduate skills to musicians seeking portfolio careers in the arts.

Parental leave vs. competition for clients: Motherhood penalty in competitive work environments

Objective: This paper explores the role of parental leave for gendered career patterns in individualized, competitive labor markets in Norway, a culturally and politically family-friendly and gender-equal society. Background: Despite family-friendly policies and little prejudice against mothers, there is a significant gap in wages and careers between mothers and fathers in Norway. This is particularly true in individualized, competitive parts of the labor market, such as finance banking. To understand this pattern, we must examine the institutionalized rules of the game in which portfolio workers, with individual responsibility for their portfolio of clients, operate. Method: Drawing on in-depth interviews with 30 women and men working in Norwegian business banking, we analyze accounts of parental leave practices and how these bankers navigate the market conditions. Results: The analyses show how the market structure for finance banking and portfolio careers limits family policies, changing parenthood norms, and firms’ goodwill. Fathers postpone, split, and adapt "leave" to fit clients' needs, thus sustaining their portfolio and career progress. In contrast, mothers, who typically take longer actual leave, give up clients and start from scratch upon return. Conclusion: Gendered use of parental leave within competitive market conditions leads to gendered career and wage patterns. More individualized competition in the wider labor market may increase inequality in parenting and careers, despite favorable cultural norms and policies, as long as public authorities, firms, and families accept individualized logics and gender-unequal practices of parental leave.

Learning trajectories of classical musicians engaging in Musikvermittlung

ABSTRACT Practices of Musikvermittlung have become significantly more relevant since the last turn of the millennium against the background of a dwindling audience for classical concerts in the German speaking countries. For classically trained musicians, whether in permanent positions, as soloists or in portfolio careers, activities in the fields of community engagement and education work are increasingly becoming an important part of their professional activities. Even though higher music education in Austria, Germany and Switzerland has reacted to this development by founding new courses of study and offering further training, the learning trajectories of classical musicians engaging in Musikvermittlung are highly diverse. In this article I will pursue the question how musicians acquire their knowledge in order to participate in practices of Musikvermittlung and how identity and social membership are formed. My research is based on 22 interviews with twelve classical musicians that were conducted between June 2018 and December 2019 and analyzed with Adele Clarke's Situational Analysis. Through the lense of practice-informed learning theories I will show that significant learning processes take place outside of formal education and will conclude with some recommendations for music institutions and higher music education.

Motivations and Intentionality in the Arts Portfolio Career

Many artists find themselves in the role of an entrepreneur and small business owner as they manage multiple overlapping jobs while engaging in a portfolio career. This research investigates how visual and performing artists construct meaningful portfolio careers and if the portfolio career model minimizes risk. The findings reveal that the majority of respondents view a portfolio career as less secure than a full-time job, but also prefer the portfolio career. A significant amount of their time is spent on creative activity and teaching. Artistic fulfillment, pay, and time commitment are the primary factors artists consider when selecting work.

One Year on: The Impact of COVID-19 on the Lives of Freelance Orchestral Musicians in the United Kingdom.

Before the drastic disruption caused by the sudden emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, 85% of the United Kingdom’s 14,000 orchestral musicians were self-employed freelance workers, engaged in busy and varied portfolio careers comprising a combination of orchestral, West End theatre, chamber music, and commercial recording work. Between May and June 2020 we carried out a first study examining the impact of the pandemic on the lives of 24 self-employed orchestral musicians, all established freelancers. Twelve were mid-career and 12 were late-career (described in that study as “seasoned”). They all reported having lost their much-loved performing careers, missing music making and colleagues, and being anxious about the future of the music profession. However, there were some differences between the two groups: the late-career participants demonstrated greater financial and emotional resilience, while the mid-career musicians reported distress, confusion, and anxiety about their identity as musicians. In the present follow-up study, we aimed to examine the impact of the first year of the pandemic on the lives of 21 of the same musicians. We found that while all the mid-career participants remained committed to their performing careers, many late-career participants aged 54–59 had developed interests in non-performing music work, and the older late-career participants, aged 65 and over, feared that they might already, de facto, have retired. We discuss the findings with reference to the precarity of freelance orchestral musicians’ lives, lifespan models of musicians’ careers, self-determination theory and post-traumatic growth, and their implications for music colleges and musicians’ support organizations.

The quality of a professional portfolio career in the post-industrial era

ABSTRACT Post-industrial society has witnessed trends according to which the labour market has become more flexible, services have expanded and immaterial work and horizontal work organisation has emerged, shaping professions in respect to the employment and work they can offer. An outcome of these trends is a portfolio career, an employment pattern based on holding down multiple jobs, which increases the variation in the quality of career trajectories. Portfolio careers, however, are shaped at the intersection of industry and profession. This article studies the quality of a professional portfolio career by investigating the employment pattern and the task profile. Two case studies, one involving business consulting professionals and the other professionals in the creative industry, are investigated. The study is based on the analysis of interview data. For both professional groups, the quality of employment was impaired by the insecurity inherent in a portfolio career, but the quality of the professional profile of tasks was relatively adequate. For the consulting professionals studied, the quality of the task profile is due to the coherent but multidisciplinary continuum of tasks, which in turn is due to the market-based service industry. For the professionals in the creative industry, the profile consisted of professional tasks and tasks external to the profession, which is due to underemployment in the industry.

Migrant subjectivities and temporal flexibility of East‐Central European labour migration to the United Kingdom

AbstractThis paper seeks to broaden existing understandings of migrant worker flexibility drawing on the data from the two ethnographic studies of low‐wage employers and Eastern European migrants in Scotland. It focuses on the temporal aspects of flexibility production in employment discourse and temporal expectations about flexible migrant workers. Our findings reveal double movement of interruption and remaking of temporal flexibility, which challenges directional expectations about time and unsettles the assumed connectivity between flexibility's temporal elements. Uncertainty and instability of migration and employment frameworks undermine the attempts of employers and migrants to manage time, to develop continuous portfolio careers and coherent temporal horizons. Furthermore, contested temporal expectations about flexible migrant workers create fragmented and fractured “flexiworkers” that do not fit within the existing temporal frameworks of signs, routines, and rhythms. The paper suggests re‐orientation of flexibility debates beyond temporal measurement, outside familiar temporal structures, and towards redefinition of flexible worker identities.

Crafting successful music careers: Insights from the professional lives of Australian pianists

This study investigates the careers of 28 classical pianists in Australia to develop greater understanding of skills needed to build professional music careers and to highlight implications for higher music education training. Semi-structured interviews were analyzed for emerging themes using Subotnik and Jarvin’s scholarly productivity or artistry (SP/A) model, looking for connections between distinct skills developed during education and their role in the building of professional careers. Participants in this study began learning to play the piano at an early age and pursued lessons during primary education, developing their technique, learning numerous works, and participating in competitions. In high school, the pianists learned to play other instruments, studied more complex and demanding piano solo repertoire, and participated in extra-curricular music activities. During performance-focused undergraduate study, all concentrated on improving technique, building solo and collaborative repertoire (including contemporary music), and exploring other music-related areas. Postgraduate study overseas and concertizing broadened their understanding of world-class standards. The participants undertook casual music jobs at the start of their careers, but eventually many achieved permanent full-time employment. Hard work, ability to learn quickly, natural gifts/talent, and passion for music helped these pianists build successful portfolio careers. The findings reveal that today’s tertiary music graduates will require diverse music and entrepreneurial skills, and a positive attitude. The implications highlight the need for the development of wide-ranging playing skills beyond solo performance and entrepreneurial competency as important factors for music careers.

Retention of doctors in emergency medicine: a scoping review of the academic literature

IntroductionWorkforce issues prevail across healthcare; in emergency medicine (EM), previous work improved retention, but the staffing problem changed rather than improved. More experienced doctors provide higher quality and more cost-effective...

The Experiences of Mid-career and Seasoned Orchestral Musicians in the UK During the First COVID-19 Lockdown.

The introduction of social distancing, as part of efforts to try and curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, has brought about drastic disruption to the world of the performing arts. In the UK the majority of professional orchestral musicians are freelance and therefore self-employed. These players, previously engaged in enjoyable, busy, successful, portfolio careers, are currently unable to earn a living carrying out their everyday work of performing music, and their future working lives are surrounded by great uncertainty. The aim of the present study was to examine how established professional musicians are experiencing this period, and to look for similarities and differences between the experiences of musicians in the middle of their performing careers (aged 35–45), with those of older players (aged 53 and over). Single semi-structured interviews were carried out over Zoom with 24 freelance, self-employed orchestral musicians; 12 mid-career musicians aged 35–45, and 12 seasoned musicians aged 53 and over. Thematic analysis identified themes common to both groups: the loss of a much-loved performing career, missing music making and colleagues, and anxiety about the future of the music profession. It also identified differences between the two groups: challenges to their identity as a musician, the extent of their anxiety about finances, the extent of their emotional distress, attitudes toward practicing and engaging in collaborative music making, and confusion over future career plans. Findings are discussed with reference to lifespan models of musicians' career development, the PERMA model of wellbeing, and the concept of resilience.

Masters of None? How Cultural Workers Use Reframing to Achieve Legitimacy in Portfolio Careers

This article examines how cultural workers interpret and respond to reputational challenges they encounter when leading portfolio careers. Specifically, the portfolio career model involves the cultivation and signalling of adaptability through broad competencies and diverse portfolios comprised of boundary-spanning work. These practices conflict with standards of artistic legitimacy and highlight specialist-generalist tensions, since they can make workers appear to be ‘jacks of all trades, masters of none’ – unskilled, opportunistic dabblers, lacking expertise and artistic integrity. The article draws on 56 interviews with cultural producers working as filmmakers, fashion designers and musicians. Findings show how workers engage in ‘reframing’ to reinterpret the symbolic meanings attached to their behaviours and, in the process, carve out new positions and standards for legitimacy within their fields. Reframing is structured by field and labour market conditions, but also represents the possibility of change as a form of culture in action.

Children in special needs schools urgently need more pharmacist support to take their medicines safely

Take a look at the professionals featured across The Pharmaceutical Journal and you’ll see pharmacy proving its worth. Pharmacists are both broadening their skills in their portfolio careers, and developing specialist ones in new and exciting settings to improve the lives of patients across the UK. But there is one patient group that has been […]

Exploring adult learning and its impact on wider communities through arts-based methods: an evaluation of narrative inquiry through filmmaking

This article reports on a project that employed narrative inquiry captured on film to explore the creative practices of five mature graduates. They had previously been mature students and continued to work within their various communities after they had left formal education. The participants were asked to describe their creative practice and its impact on other people through interviews and presentation. A researcher with help from a professional filmmaker carried out the project. From the initial footage, three polished, edited versions of the films were made. The participants could use the films to promote their own work if they so wished. Narrative inquiry is a means of seeing the connections between significant incidents and longer-term impact beyond formal education. The film footage was able to capture the connectivity between formal education, the participants and the people who had been touched by their creative practices. It successfully gave a narrative coherence to the participants’ stories. Where appropriate, the visual aspects of creativity were captured, in this case, the participants all had a creative practice and the visual realm was an important part of their stories. The findings of the project were that the participants had some shared values about the importance of creative education. They all developed portfolio careers in order to carry on their creative work. All the participants were able to give examples of particular instances where their creative practice had had an impact on other people. In other words, adult learning does not just influence the individual but can have a wider and longer-term impact on others.

‘This circle of joy’: meaningful musicians’ work and the benefits of facilitating singing groups

ABSTRACT The complex realities of musicians’ portfolio careers highlight the need for research on musicians’ wellbeing. Musicians may include community work within their portfolio such as the facilitation of singing groups for health and wellbeing. Until recently, research on these groups has focused primarily on health and wellbeing outcomes for group participants with little discussion of these factors for the facilitators as professional musicians. We recruited eleven facilitators for semi-structured interviews to investigate their work experiences. Informed by positive psychology and the PERMA model for wellbeing, reflexive thematic analysis of interview data produced themes indicating positive wellbeing outcomes for facilitators. Facilitation was experienced as a unique relationship and mode of performance, and as work ideally suited to facilitators’ skills and interests. Facilitators’ experiences exhibited all five PERMA elements constitutive of wellbeing: positive emotions (P), engagement (E), relationships (R), meaning (M), and accomplishment (A). These findings align with other research on the positive experiences of professional musicians, music educators and singing group participants, while contributing new understanding that facilitation of these groups can offer wellbeing benefits that compliment musicians’ livelihoods. This is important knowledge for the facilitators themselves and for university educators who seek to inform the career choices of their students.