The Value of an Arts Degree: Career Success and Inequality

Abstract

This study examines the value of a college degree for artists, in addition to racial, sex, and ethnic differences. I use propensity score matching on data from the 2015–2019 American Community Survey to produce causal estimates of the effect of getting an arts degree and a non-arts bachelor’s degree on income, and the probability of unemployment, self-employment, and working in an arts industry. The results illustrate that degrees positively affect artists’ average incomes and, depending on the type of degree, the probability of working in an arts industry. The analyses also illustrate that degrees have differential effects on artists’ employment outcomes based on race, sex, and ethnicity, though not always in the direction we would expect. The results illustrate the often-delicate balance between building a career as an artist and maintaining a livelihood and that individual differences with respect to career aspirations and personal circumstances moderate employment outcomes that are often attributed to common educational trajectories.