Reconciling industry and academia: perspectives on the apparel design curriculum

Abstract

Investigates which attributes were perceived to be important for the success of graduates from apparel design programs. The research design used was Q‐methodology, where 29 respondents from the apparel design industry and academia sorted 47 positive statements on a Likert scale. Results showed disparity of thought between the university educators and the apparel design professionals. The industry believed strong affective skills were the most desirable characteristics for the success of future design professionals. In contrast, almost half of the educators chose cognitive attributes as most important to students’ success. The industry’s general agreement was that academicians would rate different characteristics as important than did the industry professionals.