We strive to cover a range of topics which are written by and represent a range of different voices to reflect our diverse student population at Oxford Brookes. We asked Brookes Creative Student Assistant, Kim, to write a companion piece from a different perspective in response to our ‘Creative Mindset’ article. This is part of Brookes Creative’s commitment to meaningful conversations about what being enterprising means through different lenses.
We hope that this article acts as a conversation starter about how employees are often expected to conform to particular ways of communicating and operating in the workplace. There are certain neurotypical traits and learning/communication styles that employers often expect all candidates to have. We want to use our platform to help employers and opportunity providers think differently about recruitment, fully support people in their team and start a conversation around alternative, more inclusive, work experience projects.
REPRESENTATION MATTERS WHEN WE TALK ABOUT ‘CREATIVE MINDSET’
Brookes Creative is, at its core, dedicated to giving a voice, information and ideas from different people as set out in the manifesto as well as hiring neurodivergent and disabled people. I will, at this point, give full disclosure that I have an ‘unseen’ illness and also come from a family full of neurodivergent people. Therefore representation and inclusivity is important to me. What do I mean by neurodivergent people? The Brain Charity describes neurodiversity as “the concept that brain differences are natural variations. Some people’s brains simply work in a different way.” Neurodiverse is an umbrella term to describe diversity and variation of cognitive functioning in people. This includes people with conditions such as Autistic Spectrum Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders, Attention Deficit Disorders, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, Dyscalculia and Tourette’s Syndrome. (Please note this list is not exhaustive! You can find more information on the Exceptional Individuals website).
Recent evidence submitted to the Department for Digital Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) Select Committee Enquiry into the Impact of Covid-19 in DCMS Sectors states that while approximately 14% of the population are neurodivergent, an estimated 20% of the creative labour industries workforce are neurodivergent. A much higher level than other employment sectors. This study states that although neurodivergent graduates have the same probability of being employed in the sector as their Neurotypical peers, they are more likely to be employed on a temporary or freelance basis.
Some neurodivergent people can have difficulties with organisation, timekeeping, memory, concentration, direction and sequencing – which are often the key personal skills sought by an employer. But neurodivergent people can also be passionate about their chosen areas, highly creative, able to think from a new perspective and utterly determined. If supported correctly neurodivergent people are a huge asset to any employer. Going back to our “How to develop a Creative Mindset” article it is important to acknowledge that some of the suggestions within this and the articles it links to, can be incredibly difficult to some neurodivergent people. For example, for a neurodivergent person, surrounding themselves with multiple sources of inspiration may just lead to distraction and make it harder to concentrate on the task at hand. However, entrepreneurship and ‘thinking outside the box’ is a skill many neurodivergent people excel in and it is important that we reframe our shared understanding of creative mindset.
We have continuous conversations with ourselves here at Brookes Creative to be increasingly more mindful about inclusivity. We aim to have dialogues with employers, careers advisors, educators, mentors and other students about how to be more inclusive and adapt to the needs of neurodivergent colleagues to make it an easier, safer space in which all people can thrive within the industry. This can start with employers taking the time to look at their recruitment processes. A study by Achieve Ability found that recruitment processes “unfairly disadvantage neurodivergent applicants” by looking for candidates with skills over wide-ranging areas rather than a candidate with specialist skills in fewer areas, even when a specialist would be more beneficial to the company long term. An article by Lyla Johnston about job hunting in the creative industries while autistic describes their firsthand experience of the biased hiring systems that come into play.
This important conversation can continue with educators employers knowing who is in their team and what their needs and strengths are. Can they adapt and structure the work day and meetings differently, if needed, and utilise alternatives? Keeping up to date with relevant training and being able to and understand the differences between neuro-diversities, whilst also being in the best position to recognise neurodiversity in non-diagnosed students. Most importantly, create a psychologically safe work environment to empower the neurodiverse employee to communicate confidently within the setting.
The most important aspect is knowing any support needs to be tailored to the individual – one neurodivergent person is not the same as the next. We need to keep having the conversations on how to be inclusive of all people and have lots of content and events planned through Brookes Creative.
– Article by Kim
There are useful resources on the University’s Neurodiversity Talis Aspire List. We also recommend the following webpages for further reading and listening. Please get in touch if you have any further suggestions.
–How neurodivergent creatives can thrive in the industry – Creative Lives in Progress
–Job hunting in the creative industry while autistic – It’s Nice That
–Creative Industries have to embrace #Diverse Minds – Ali Hanan
–Systemic Ableism in the Arts – by Oxford-based artist, Sonia Boue
–How Close to being a Disability Confident Leader are you? by Exceptional Individuals
-‘What About Us’ podcast – a series of conversations on different experiences of being part of the Brookes community
–Disability History Resources – Brookes Library’s Special Collections