TELESCOPING THE SUPPLIES OF HUMAN RESOURCES FOR CULTURAL SECTOR IN THE FUTURE (A Brief Tracer Study of Cultural Science Students in Several Universities in Indonesia)

Besides caring to the abundant issues towards development, one of government’s efforts to build a better nation is by giving attention the cultural sector. Culture is what teaches people about the important key to make a wealthier nation – the equity and the civility. 

So far, the data about the amount and the state of human resources in cultural sector has not been well collected. Even the data about the supply of human resources for the future which is being prepared by many fields of studies, especially in cultural sciences are just the same. The nation’s wealth in the cultural sector which makes Indonesia become a very well known country among the foreign countries has not been supported by the awareness of the people to conserve and develop all the valuable cultural heritages. Still there is imbalance between the amount of tangible - intangible cultural heritages and the human resources who will take care of them. Thus, it is worrying to think that Indonesian cultural heritages will be disappearing day by day. So that it is not surprising if there are many countries claiming one of Indonesian cultural heritages as theirs. Indonesian also should not be angry towards what they do. 

We all know that many people are still not interested to work in the field of cultural sciences study, as we also know that the interest of the student candidates in Indonesia in cultural sciences study is not as big as their interest in another field of study in Indonesia. The majors like Sociology, Anthropology, History, Indonesian Literature, and Archeology still become the less preferences comparing to Medical Sciences, Engineering, Law, and some others which many students seek for in the entire nation. Moreover, the more specific majors like Arts, as what some Institutes in the field of arts and cultures provide, has few enthusiasts. These phenomena endanger the preservation of Indonesian Culture which becomes the everlasting wealth of our beloved Indonesia. Therefore, the research about students’ interest towards cultural sciences and their eagerness to dedicate themselves in the field of cultures becomes crucial to be conducted so that the result can be used to describe the supplies of human resources in cultural sector in the future. Moreover, it can also be the starting point to make a better policy in building and developing cultural sector as one of the most precious asset of our nation. 

The topic of this research is “Tracing the Interest of the Senior High School Graduates and Candidate of University Graduates to the Profession in the Cultural Sector” which was planned to be accomplished in two years. In 2014, the tracer study was conducted towards the graduates of senior high school who were in their early and last semesters in Cultural Sciences Program in the Universities chosen to become the place to do the study. For the students in their early semesters, the research aims to survey the congruence of their interest to study in the Faculty of Cultural Sciences. While for the students in their last semesters, the research aims to examine their interest and projection to work in the cultural sectors. In 2015, the research will confirm the 2014’s graduates who has been studied in the previous year in their work field and profession they were working on. 

This research will take place in 9 provinces in Indonesia. They are North Sumatera, West Sumatera, west Java, Central Java, Yogyakarta, east Java, North Sulawesi, South Sulawesi, and Bali. In each province, the data will be taken from some universities and institutes which have majors or study program in the area of Cultural Sciences. In the Universities, the research will take the sample from Sociology, Anthropology, Archeology, History, and Indonesian Literature Departments. While in the Institutes of Arts and Cultures, the sample will be taken from Dance, Music, Theatre and Visual Arts Departments. From each major or program, the sample taken will be 60% of the 2014 badge, 40% of 2011 badge, and 10% of 2010 badge in which population is based on the total admissions in every badge. The research is quantitative research with questionnaire as the primary instrument which will be answered by the students from various majors and badges as mentioned above. 

When this paper was written, the research just finished the data collection so that the result has not been ready to be presented. As the result of this research has been acquired, it is hoped that the result can show the overview of the supplies of human resources in cultural sector so that the relevant parties can make the best policies, especially for the Center for Human Resource Development of Culture, Agency of Research and Development,  Agency of Human Resource Development on Education and Culture and Education Quality Assurance, and Ministry of Education and Culture which will be mostly concerned with the result of this research.

Lastly, hopefully all of the cultural sectors as Indonesia’s Most Precious Heritage can be preserved and developed to be one of the development focuses in this new governmental era. Along with the development of the cultured human resources, Indonesia will be wealthier and more prosperous. The people will also live in the peace and harmony civilization in tapestry of life named Indonesia. (UTR, Centre for Research and Development of Culture, Ministry of Education and Culture Republic of Indonesia)