MSU ArtSmarts and Innovators in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Study

Arts and the Innovative Workplace
By Amy Lazet, CCED

Previous research by Michigan State University’s Center for Community and Economic Development successfully established the link between entrepreneurial inventiveness and sustained arts and crafts involvement.

Published under the title “ArtSmarts and Innovators in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics,” this study was conducted by a multidisciplinary research team comprised of academics in disciplines ranging from physiology to the humanities.

In April the team received from the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi the “Excellence Award in Interdisciplinary Scholarship” (shown in the photo on the front page).

From January 2010 to June 2012, the ArtSmarts team investigated the creativity and innovation of Michigan
State University Honors College graduates within science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (or STEM) fields. Participants were chosen that had enough time to establish themselves within their fields.

Many were actively engaged in the production of creative capital, defined here as the number of companies founded and patents held for inventions.

The results of the study demonstrated that the vast majority of the respondents believe their innovative ability is stimulated by their arts and crafts knowledge, and many would recommend increasing the amount of arts and crafts exposure that students in STEM fields receive. Finally, the team demonstrated that lifelong arts and crafts exposure yielded the most significant impacts for innovators and entrepreneurs.

The ArtSmarts team recommended that the state of Michigan recognize the importance of funding arts and crafts for economic transformation; recognize the significance of arts and crafts in supporting innovation in STEM disciplines; and support research that investigates the most effective ways to facilitate lifelong exposure to arts and crafts.

The current research project, “Arts and the Innovative Workplace,” is a continuation of ArtSmarts, and seeks to explore the link between successful, innovative companies in Michigan, involvement in arts and crafts, and workplace design.

This research is being conducted by the multidisciplinary Arts and the Innovative Workplace research team, constituted of individuals in a variety of academic disciplines such as the humanities and urban and regional planning.

Interviews are being arranged with the founders and chief executive officers of companies in Michigan that in 2006 received a 21st Century Jobs Fund Award. These businesses are defined as innovative, highly-skilled, and highly-paid industries within the manufacturing, alternative energy, life sciences, and homeland security and defense spheres.

The research team seeks to stimulate both the local economy and the arts community by identifying factors affecting inventiveness and productivity in high-wage, high-growth industries, thereby addressing the issue of job creation. Funded in part by a grant from the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, the Arts and the Innovative Workplace survey explores workplace flexibility, philanthropy towards and involvement in the arts on both a company and personal level, individual participation in arts and crafts over the lifetime of the founder or CEO, and how creative workplace design can affect employee creativity and productivity.

By understanding the relationship between arts participation, creative work environments, and economic growth, the results of this study are expected to have an impact not only on Michigan’s economy, but also to have the potential for application nationwide. The findings will be made available both through the Center for Community and Economic Development and academic publications, thereby benefiting a wide audience and adding to the extant research on arts and crafts involvement, workplace design, and productivity in STEM fields.

ARTS-SMARTS and INNOVATORS in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics
http://ced.msu.edu/upload/reports/ARTSMART%20Report-FINAL.pdf