Employability Challenges Facing Vocal Art Graduates in South Africa: A Case Study of Tshwane University of Technology

Abstract Unemployment has emerged as a global phenomenon that brutally affects young people, irrespective of whether they have academic qualifications, but is more prevalent and predominant in semi-peripheral and peripheral countries. Like graduates from other emerging countries, South African graduates are experiencing unemployment. The issue of unemployment in the performing arts industry has become a matter of great concern. Vocal Art (hereafter VA) graduates are finding it increasingly challenging to find a bridge between university and the industry of their profession. This article reports on a study that explored the relevance of the Performing Arts (Vocal Art) curriculum at the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT), Pretoria, South Africa, to employment opportunities for its graduates. A qualitative research method was employed using approaches such as a review of scholarly writings and interviews with arts graduates, lecturers, employers, VA performers, and selected performing arts industry practitioners and leaders. The findings demonstrated that there are a high number of arts graduates battling to find employment which is partly attributable to a lack of specific skills not catered for in the present curriculum. The study identified these special and relevant skills crucial for the performing arts industry. The article concludes by affirming that the TUT curriculum has to be redesigned, restructured and aligned with the continuously changing performing arts industry.