I met up with a very good friend, K, recently who shared about her decision to change career. Being somewhat of an artistic nature, she has been learning pottery for several years from a well-known local potter, and also been teaching herself various art forms such as watercolour painting, and drawing portraits. She wishes to pursue a new career in teaching pottery and drawing on a free-lance basis.
When she recounted to me the conversation with her boss about wanting to resign from her current marketing position, I was reminded of the social psychological concept of schemas in action. The boss was actually very shocked to hear about K’s decision. Part of the conversation went something like this:
Boss: I don’t understand…this is crazy! How are you going to feed your family with a career in arts? Have you thought for your parents or not?
K: But this is what I’ve wanted to do for a long time, and I don’t wish to delay anymore. My parents do not have any objections…
Boss: Can’t you pursue your passion on a part-time basis? How much can you make? Is it going to be useful for you in the long run?...
Finally, the boss threw back the resignation letter to K, asking her to consider carefully again. We met on that evening, and K obviously was feeling a bit discouraged by what happened.
Schemas represent our mental structures that we use to organise information about the world. In this instance, the schemas are about attitudes and preconceptions towards so-called artistic pursuits. The boss was having a hard time relating to my friend’s decision because he already had certain schemas about people who choose to work in the field of arts, e.g. that such people are self-centered, irrational, impractical, unproductive and idealistic.
While K tried to convince him that she had a clearly laid-out plan for sustaining her livelihood with her new career, and that she had her family’s blessings to go ahead, he somehow did not hear it. Instead he still thought she was crazy to entertain the notion of leaving the highly lucrative tourism industry. Thus we see that his schemas had acted as filters which screened out information that were inconsistent with them. He jumped to conclusions on the basis of his schemas, and did not support K’s decision. I can only hope that K’s perseverance can outdo the boss’s schemas when she talks to him again soon.
7 comments:
You can write very well! Plus your content is digestable-easy to read as well, at the same time maintaining a balance by being detailed at the same time.
Definitely one of the better blogs as compared to the others.
I hope that your friend finally gets to resign from the company. I just feel that her boss is being such a idiot. As much as he doesn't want her to leave the company, he should at least respect her decision.
And I don't like the way most people think about artists. They are the most creative and talented people ever. It's not a thing that everyone can do. I, for one, certainly respect them for being an artist.
I work in the arts and although i'm not an artist, i know that artists are often stereotyped. People often have preconceived ideas about the way artists look/dress, behave, think and work.
Although some artists do perpetuate the stereotypical image, perhaps a display of in-group bias, artists as a whole is a very diverse group of people.
For every "self-centered, irrational, impractical, unproductive and idealistic" artist, I believe you can find one who is humble, logical, hardworking and down-to-earth. If artists have one thing in common, it'd probably be their passion for the arts.
Although working in the arts may not be as lucrative compared to working in other industries, it is no less rewarding as a career.
I too, hope that your friend will follow her heart and choose to further her career in the arts :)
Like Christine has mentioned I hope your friend gets to pursue her passion. It is a sad fact that the view in Singapore's society is that the Arts is "nothing" and that it "won't get you anywhere in life". I however beg to differ, if one is pursing what he/she is passionate about, then I believe that they can make a living out of it. Perhaps, they may not be able to live the high life, but at least they would be happy. I think happiness is the key to life.
Also, the notion that Arts isn't the way to go, perhaps has to do with the school system in S'pore. Emphasis has been and still is (while this is slowly changing) on the Science stream. I too recall a friend who after graduation wanted to pursue a design course at NAFA, but her mother chided her and eventually she enrolled for an accountancy course only to drop out a few months later.
living in singapore and spending a the past couple of years of my life studying overseas has made me realise that its very difficult to be unique in "uniquely singapore".
Its either you do what every other singaporean does or you spend the rest of ur life begging. There isnt welfare or grants to support people in the arts, which is a shame. There is so much more to the Arts than whats made known.
-rathi
Your friend's boss reminds me of my viola teacher. He has been nagging me about me quitting my job to study instead. I know he is concerned for my physical and material needs, as i won't have a substantial income especially now the inflation rates are so high. He even went as far as to say that other people who heard about my decision and what i did say that i'm crazy.
Though i know he is concerned, i really don't like it when he implies that i'm crazy. But I believe that my decision to study psychology and take a break from working life was a good idea as i feel i have benefitted much from it. I totally understand what your friend is going through.
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