The recent Let Them Play event, held at the University of Sheffield Drama Studio by Activities & Development Officer Anna Campbell, was an opportunity to bring creative societies together and advocate for the arts, and its funding, to be prioritised when so often creative arts are pushed to the back of the line, in exchange for funding for the sciences or sport.
Whilst the event garnered mixed results, some results which weren’t so mixed were those of the Performance Societies Survey, presented for the first time during the event to audience members entering the Drama Studio auditorium. So what do our own students think of the creativity offered at Sheffield, and does this provide any clues as to how Let Them Play, and arts provision overall, can be improved?
The Performance Societies Survey was released in 2023 to the university’s performance groups, to be disseminated to their members. Aiming to gather data on the societies and the effects they have had on students at the university, it covered a variety of topics, including impact on academic and creative skills, and effect on friendship and wellbeing. At the time of closure, the survey had received 159 total responses.
Beginning with those who access the arts at our university, it was of no surprise that the biggest faculty partaking in extracurricular arts activities are those studying in the Faculty of Arts & Humanities, making up one third of respondents. However, this was then, unexpectedly, followed by the Faculty of Science (22.3%), and then the faculties of Engineering and Social Sciences (17.2% apiece), with the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry & Health trailing at 10.8%. Overall, this is a considerably balanced and mixed picture of arts participation across our university, and is a testament to the reach and impact that the arts can have on so many lives, regardless of background and interest.
But what can we learn from this? Principally, the lowest uptake is always an important port-of-call, and students from Medicine, Dentistry & Health making up only 11% of participants is an area that should be looked into. However, given the considerable time restrictions that courses in this faculty require, this result cannot be said to be surprising. However, that doesn’t mean that arts participation is impossible but may require additional work on the part of societies to ensure that those with time-intensive courses are fully able to participate. Whilst this will be much more difficult for some than others, it is a key area that those looking to increase engagement should pay careful attention to.
However, for those who do engage in arts at the university, it is something which takes over a large portion of their lives, with over 85% of respondents spending at least three hours per week on their creative endeavours, with 38% spending at least six. This is a clear indication of just how much time our students are choosing to devote to the arts, and by extension, how key of a role they play in our student experiences.
Moving to academic and creative skills, the Performance Society Survey also asked respondents what impact society involvement has had on a diverse mix of skills, both associated and non-associated with university study. As expected, creative society activities had a near-universal positive impact, with almost 97% reporting a ‘very positive’ or ‘somewhat positive’ impact, and the remainder giving ‘no difference’ as an answer. Similarly, in terms of academia, 70% reported a ‘very positive’ or ‘somewhat positive’ impact due to creative society involvement. However, here is more of a mixed picture, with just over 5% reporting negative or unsure impacts. It was also here that one respondent highlighted the “very little leniency with prior performance-related commitments” from their Music degree.
This suite of results are particularly interesting, and an area that requires further investigation. It is clear that the performance societies do not work for everyone, despite this being a distinct minority, with 5% actively reporting a negative impact on academia. These results have several indications, namely 1) that performance societies are largely very effective, but not universally-so, even for those who choose to engage with them, 2) course requirements and lack of leniency again has a clear impact on the ability of interested students to take part, and 3) that regardless of issues experienced by some, the presence of performance societies has a significant and clear positive impact on creative and academic skills, ones which are not always provided by the degrees themselves.
Therefore, performance societies must be properly maintained and supported to allow them to continue their vital work, with such clear and positive impacts on a large majority of those who engage with them. But this is another clear area in which the Activities & Development Officer should look at improvements.
The only majority-negative result to come out of the survey came from a question asking whether the university provides enough support for creative activities, to which a decisive 70% were united in saying this was not the case. Whilst this was summarised as “students feel that more could be done to support their work”, having a near 40-percentage point difference between those who think the university does support creativity, and those who don’t, this is a clear indication that this is not just a sentiment or feeling – many agree that the university does not.
Whilst this question was isolated to the university rather than including the Students’ Union, this is a clear mandate for further arts support, and advocacy for this, at every opportunity. Given the highlighting of our student groups during university events and open days, there is clearly a shortfall being experienced being what the university say about creativity and what they do, which only strong advocacy and representation can change. This is a clear point that can be expanded on to help garner additional support for student creativity, but it is also important to understand how students feel about the support provided by the Students’ Union, which was not surveyed. Only by having a global approach can the arts receive the maximum support possible, which is made more difficult when only one provider is being considered.
Whilst the respondents were also evenly split on whether performance societies impacted the decision to study at Sheffield, 53.1% agree that knowing about these groups before coming would have had an impact on their decision to study here. Not only are the arts hugely beneficial when students get here, but they may also be a powerful attracting factor for those undecided, which is likely to get those at the highest levels paying closer attention. This is an important point to highlight in future advocacy attempts, with students potentially choosing Sheffield over somewhere else had they known about our performance societies, but also indicates that greater promotion is needed of our groups, which was mentioned by multiple in written submissions.
Finally, in some of the consistently-strongest results to emerge from the Performance Societies Survey, over 96% of respondents agree that the performance societies on offer at Sheffield contribute to a positive balance between studying and socialising, as well as increasing and improving friendships amongst students from a variety of backgrounds. As with many of the results of this survey, this much is resolute – performance societies provide a near-unrivalled positive impact on our student communities, and as such, needs to be valued appropriately.
So where do we go from here? Where can the Activities & Development Officer, student societies and community advocates go from here in order to improve the student experience and enjoyment of our creative groups, and improve them for generations to come? Well, as we see it, there are five main recommendations we can draw from these results:
- Societies should attempt to increase the accessibility & flexibility of their activities as much as possible, especially for medical and dental students, who are currently underrepresented in performance activities. Whether this is by catering specifically to these groups or reducing pre-existing limitations on their events, removing as many barriers to access is a priority to maintain and increase participation across the university
- The university must do more to support the performance groups in our communities, both financially and in provision of resources, access and other areas that are currently limiting factors. The Students’ Union, & its officer team, must all be taking active roles in the promotion of the arts, both through formal advocacy and representation, but also through other more informal methods, including promoting society events, activities & performances on social platforms & other areas.
- There must be an active and sustained effort to preserve and increase performance, rehearsal and storage spaces for the groups that need it. Whilst the opening up of the Theatre Workshop in the future is a welcome step, having a wealth of spaces should be made a priority, particularly given the resources allocated in recent years to construction of both The Diamond and The Wave, which has brought with it no additional performance space. With construction projects almost always in the pipeline for the university, and recent reports of renovations happening to the Students’ Union building, performance venues and appropriate storage must be placed at the heart of this, to deliver what student groups truly need in order to operate effectively.
- The resources which are available must be made much easier to book. Reforming the room booking systems have been in the manifestos of various SU officers for a number of years consistently now, but the continued issues show that this is not being actioned. The booking systems for ensuring rooms are accessible must be addressed as a matter of urgency, to ease the burden on our already-busy student groups and ensure they can take full advantage of the limited resources available to them.
- The costs incurred by performance groups is significant and always rising, with society budget cuts meeting them. There must be a sustained effort to boost performance society budgets, and reduce costs where possible, to ensure these groups can continue onwards into the future. The financial situation of both the university and wider economy will always have an impact, but ensuring that the creative arts are not continuously the ones to pay the price must be a priority, if we are to ensure our student groups can continue on healthily into the future.
The Performance Societies Survey has shown that the creative and performing arts have a significant impact on our student groups and community, in terms of time dedicated to them, student wellbeing, interpersonal relationships and the skills and memories the impart on their participants. But it is clear that there are significant challenges facing these groups, with their addressing being imperative to preserving the vital effects they have on our student body. Whilst our performance societies achieve fantastic things, they are facing ever-more hardships, with our university, Students’ Union and Officer Team now needed to step up and do more to help support them effectively and collaboratively, as we head into the new year, with evermore challenges appearing ahead.
