Recent studies on cultural and creative industries (CCI) emphasized creative education as a strategic component of creative economy development, with higher education institutions (HEIs) tasked to produce "creative human capital" to support growth (Ashton & Noonan, 2013; Comunian & Gilmore, 2015). This employability discourse also resonates in the Philippines, where the Republic Act No. 11904, or the Philippine Creative Industries Development Act (PCIDA), and related policies/initiatives position HEIs as one of the key partners in training a globally competitive and innovation-driven creative workforce. However, domestic scholars and government related reports (Samodio, 2017/2018; Santos, 2017; Serafica & Oren, 2022) have highlighted persistent policy-practice gaps/incoherencies in creative labor policies, raising questions whether similar issues may recur as national policies are translated and implemented within HEIs. Through thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with university administrators & faculty, industry practitioners and government representatives, this study explores how stakeholders interpret, negotiate, and critique the institutionalization of creative industry policies in higher education. They identified notable gains (e.g., policy recognition of creative disciplines, curricular innovation, and stronger industry linkages), but also enduring challenges (e.g., fragmented coordination, resource inequities, and bureaucratic delays). These findings suggest that these employability-oriented policies may come at the expense of academic freedom and cultural sustainability. This study therefore underscores the need for continued dialogue and collaboration among HEIs, government agencies and industries to bridge the policy-practice gap and build a sustainable creative education ecosystem.

Authors:
Joanna Luisa Obispo, Ritsumeikan University, Japan

About the Presenter(s)
Dr. Joanna Luisa B. Obispo is a Senior Researcher at Ritsumeikan University’s Asia-Japan Research Organization in Kyoto, Japan. Recent research interests: Anime reception, Audience history, Creative labor and education in Asia and the Philippines.

Connect on Linkedin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/joanna-luisa-obispo1

Connect on ResearchGate
https://ritsumei.academia.edu/JoannaObispo

Additional website of interest
https://en.ritsumei.ac.jp/research/aji/young_researcher/profiles/yong39/

See this presentation on the full schedule – Friday Schedule

Bookmark