This book systematically examines various factors that shape graduates entry into media work, which include the state and its policies, industrial and organizational practices and cultures, and media education. However, the book does not take a typical political economic or even media industries approach to this exploration. Rather, it innovatively traces how these forces are operationalized to shape media work from the perspective of the graduates, their educators and their employers. These varying perspectives are analyzed to see how graduates experience the outcomes of policy, education and industry cultures. The book examines the impact that policy, education and industry have in redefining what media work means for parts of industry that are responsible for cultivating new entrants into the creative industries.

Anne OBrienis Associate Professor in the Department of Media Studies at Maynooth University, Ireland. She has published a number of articles on the representation of women in radio and television, on women workers in creative industries and has examined why women leave careers in screen production.

Sarah Arnoldis Assistant Professor in the Department of Media Studies at Maynooth University, Ireland. She is the author of the forthcoming bookTelevision, Technology and Gender: New Platforms and New Audiences. Her previous books includeMaternal Horror Film: Melodrama and Motherhood (2013) and the co-authoredFilm Handbook (2013).

Páraic Kerriganis Teaching Fellow with the School of Information and Communication Studies at University College Dublin, Ireland. His research pertains to the dynamics of diversity in media industries, specifically centred around Irelands LGBT community.

Chapter 1 - Introduction.- Chapter 2 -The Irish (Small Nation) Context.- Chapter 3 - What does media education do to media graduates?.- Chapter 4 - New Entrants and Pathways into Media Work.- Chapter 5 - State Policy and the Impact on Media Graduates.- Chapter 6 - Industry on Education: What's the Point?.- Chapter 7 - Conclusion.