Abstracts Business

Am I creative? Senior college business students and their perceptions of their own creativity. A mixed method sequential explanatory study.

by Colleen Alex

Alex, Colleen The COVID-19 pandemic magnified the importance of creativity to further drive innovation and change in organizations. This mixed method sequential explanatory study looked at exploring how senior college business students perceive their creative self-beliefs and understand the phenomenon of creativity. The intent of this study was to understand how students perceive Creative Self Efficacy (CSE) and understand the phenomenon creativity. The Short Scale of Creative Self (Karwowski et al., 2018) was applied to measure CSE and semi-structured interviews expanded on the quantitative results to better understand CSE and the phenomenon of creativity within the participants. The Four C Model of Creativity (Kaufman & Beghetto, 2009) was applied to explore qualitative data. Study results revealed higher CSE scores aligned with little-c creativity, while participants with lower CSE scores personified the mini-c construct of the model. Identified barriers to creativity found in this study, centers on the gaps in pedagogical focus on creativity specifically related to feedback associated with creativity. Mini-c creativity is grounded in idea generation and the intrapersonal perspective of creativity. The importance of creating environments that encourage creativity while scaffolding this pedagogy approach over the duration of the higher education journey is discussed. I propose educators must understand the dynamics of the Four C Model of Creativity to foster individualized, and value-added creativity feedback. Ensuring mini-c creativity is fostered throughout the curriculum for senior college business students will encourage and further develop CSE and creativity within the learner. Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic, creativity, creative self-efficacy, Four C Model of Creativity, mini-c creativity, mixed method