Eakrin/Adobe Stock there is no long-term mentorship in this shortened training model to guide a career. Stage management apprenticeships focus on techniques to work more efficiently on a production but not practices that enable stage managers to sustain a healthy work/life balance. Academic programs should be mindful of what cannot be learned in the abbreviated, concentrated training that occurs within apprenticeships. Apprenticeships will continue to be part of stage management training, but they themselves also need to be reviewed for the economic barriers they have introduced to careers in the performing arts (Diane 2020). Stage management curricula should not try to duplicate practical internships but rather provide what apprenticeships cannot. Undergraduate education can provide leadership opportunities while also offering safety nets for students to take risks in developing their management style. Academic programs need to adapt to changes in the field and devote more resources to serving the student's longterm growth rather how the student can best serve a production. February 2020 marked the start of the SM2030 Project, a longitudinal study of 106 college seniors pursuing careers in stage management. The SM2030 Project will follow these graduating seniors for 10 years to see how their education and training prepared them as stage managers, as well as the types of careers that they achieve. The participants hailed from 27 states and were earning a range of undergraduate degrees including 39 percent earning BFAs in stage management and 35 percent earning a BA in theatre. Among these 106 volunteers, 83 percent classified themselves as " Very Likely " and another 10 percent indicated they were " Likely " to pursue stage management as their post-graduation career. Analysis of the initial data of the SM2030 Project suggests five areas in which stage management curricula can be improved to better serve present-day students. Some university programs have already adapted to address one or more of these areas, but stage management as an academic discipline can use FALL 2020 | THEATRE DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY |9