Work

“So, yeah, that’s a blind spot”: Exploring gender awareness in cultural entrepreneurship education at art and design higher education institutions in the Netherlands

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: This study investigates how educators understand and address gender within cultural entrepreneurship education (CEE) in art and design higher education in the Netherlands. CEE has become central to preparing students for increasingly precarious cultural labour markets and, in Europe, is informed by fields long criticised by feminist scholars for privileging traditionally masculine-coded norms such as competitiveness and risk-taking. Despite this, gender has received virtually no explicit attention in CEE policy and research. Drawing on interviews with 18 CEE educators and (co-)heads of Fine Art programmes across all eight state-funded institutions in the Netherlands, the study identifies a disconnect between educators’ awareness of gender inequality and its largely ad hoc integration into teaching. Despite their awareness, educators reinforce this disconnect through gender blindness and non-performativity. Their accounts sustain the belief in CEE’s neutrality, potentially disadvantaging women despite their majority presence in Fine Art higher education.

Source: Arts and Humanities in Higher Education

DOI: 10.1177/14740222261494661

Authors: Catherine Somzé, Pauwke Berkers

Institutions: Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences, Erasmus University Rotterdam

Language: English

Topic: Cultural Industries and Urban Development

Subfield: Urban Studies

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Gender equality, Quality education, Reduced inequalities

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,650