New graduate certificate addresses growing need for creativity and innovation in the workforce

Sheridan is launching a unique interdisciplinary credential that responds to increasing global workforce demand for creativity, innovation, problem-solving and other 21st-century skills.

Designed for both recent postsecondary graduates and mid-career professionals, the Applied Creativity and Innovation graduate certificate program is rooted in research, such as the RBC Future Skills Report, that demonstrates the economy’s need for workers who are creative and innovative. Researchers in Sheridan’s School of Humanities and Creativity shaped the curriculum through a quality excellence research project that surveyed more than 80 post-secondary faculty and administrators, subject matter experts, employers and entrepreneurs to identify and prioritize learning outcomes that will best prepare graduates for the future of work.

“Employers and experts have dictated to us what they are looking for, and we have designed this program to ensure our graduates check off as many of those boxes as possible.”

– Dr. Joel Lopata, Applied Creativity and Innovation program coordinator

Courses in the program include creativity studies, problem-solving methodologies, science of human behaviour, advanced problem solving, innovation, communication strategies and creative management. The program also features an extensive practicum component during which students can complete an entrepreneurial or intrapreneurial project that displays their creative and innovative abilities to prospective employers, providing them with a competitive edge in the workforce.

“Employers and experts have dictated to us what they are looking for, and we have designed this program to ensure our graduates check off as many of those boxes as possible,” says program coordinator Dr. Joel Lopata, whose research on creativity neuroscience has been published in top-tier international journals as well as New Scientist, Forbes and Big Think. “In addition to teaching concepts and methodical ways to come up with creative ideas, similar to what our degree students learn in Sheridan’s unique Board Undergraduate Certificate in Creativity and Problem Solving credential, we’re also teaching how to implement those ideas through a focus on entrepreneurship, intrapreneurship, social innovation and commercial innovation.”

Students can complete the Applied Creativity and Innovation graduate certificate program full-time in eight months, part-time in 10 months, or over the course of several years. All classes will be delivered virtually through a blend of synchronous and asynchronous instruction, providing flexibility to study evenings, weekends or whenever is most convenient. There will also be opportunities for in-person collaboration and networking through voluntary on-campus special events during reading weeks or the summer.

Registration is now open for the first intake of the program, which will begin in September 2023. For more information, please visit Sheridan’s Applied Creativity and Innovation graduate certificate program page.