Redressing The Gender Redressing The Gender Imbalance in Textile EducationImbalance in Textile Education

Dr. Mark BradshawSenior Lecturer

Department of Fashion & TextilesDe Montfort University

Leicester, England

7th IFFTE ConferenceTokyo2005

IntroductionIntroduction

• Context– Industry– Education

• 3 strategies for working with schools/FE• Project INTX• Conclusions

Doom and GloomDoom and Gloom

• Textiles has a bad press in the UK– Public perception is poor– Factory closures– Low paid, unskilled employment

• Fashion has a good press– Glamorous image– Plenty of exciting jobs– Designers become famous

Context

This was then ….This was then ….

• 15/20 years ago ….– Much more thriving manufacturing industry– Many students, including many males– Many BSc Textiles courses nationally, easy to attract

students– Leicester Polytechnic had an international reputation

Context

… … and this is nowand this is now• Mass manufacturing nearly gone

– Niche manufacturing strong• Technical textiles• Corporate clothing

• Many students– Most study BA Fashion or Design– Nearly all female

• Nationally– Many BA Fashion courses, few BSc Textiles– The UK textile and clothing industry (including retail) still

demands technically competent graduates

Context

Strategy 1. Going OutStrategy 1. Going Out• Goal – increase application numbers by educating

the prospective applicants

• Go to FE colleges and schools

• Total success– Everywhere we went, we recruited students– “No one ever told us textiles was like this!”– Time consuming and expensive– Would need repeating yearly

Strategies

Strategy 2. Coming InStrategy 2. Coming In• Educate the educators• FREE COURSE FOR TEXTILE TEACHERS• Industrial Design & Practice

– Intensive 1 day course– Very practical– Supported by lectures

• Runaway success• Ran it 3 times the first session and 4 times a year for

the next 2 years

Strategies

Educate the EducatorsEducate the Educators• Application numbers rose

– This was our goal and will remain so– Our priorities have changed along the way

• Understand the National Curriculum for Textiles– Textiles resides Design & Technology subject area, along

with Resistant Materials, Food Technology, Graphics and Control Systems

– Very interesting, design, technical, new technologies, industrial – exciting, a course you would want to study!!

– Many teachers have little or no industrial background, or access to suitable materials

– Textiles in schools is art based/interiors/the cat walk

Strategies

Strategy 3. SupportStrategy 3. Support• Build working relationships

• Develop our portfolio of courses– CAD/CAM– Smart Materials

• Taster days for GCSE/A level students– Testing – snagging, strength, elasticity, burning– Coloration – multifibre strips, metamerism– CAD/CAM

• Professional qualification for teachers

Strategies

Project INTX (Project INTX (ININto to TTeeXXtiles)tiles)• Traditionally, not many boys at school study textiles

• Project INTX aims to dispel stereo-typical preconceptions

• Aimed at Year 8 boys before they choose GCSE subjects

• It is not difficult to turn boys on to Textiles!

Project INTX

• Reasons why boys don’t study textiles– Stereotypical subject images – girls subject– Peer pressure – their colleagues are taking Resistant

Materials/Graphics, even Food Technology– Parental influence – low paid, female oriented career

• On open days, parental influence is different!– Presentation of subject by the school– “Textiles is gay”

Project INTXProject INTX (Project INTX (ININto to

TTeeXXtiles)tiles)

Project INTX (Project INTX (ININto to TTeeXXtiles)tiles)• 3 day event

• Boys presented with a lively textile industry

• Activities that challenge their perception of what textiles are and how they are used

• Boys invent millionaire-making textile product and present idea to the group

• Whole event is aimed at the “WOW” factor

Project INTX

Day 1Day 1• Day 1

– Lecture on textiles in Formula 1 racing from BAR chief designer

– Visit local skateboard park and have skateboard demonstration from a local team

– Practical experiment comparing tensile strength of traditional textile materials with Kevlar using an Instron

– Lecture on Textile Futurology from scientist at Unilever– Brainstorming session – killer product that will make them

a millionaire

Project INTX

Day 2Day 2• Day 2

– Visit to Military Clothing base– Lecture from serving soldiers on different types of military

clothing, flak jackets, etc– Talk on ballistic impact and bullet proof jackets– Tour of military clothing testing facilities

Project INTX

Day 3Day 3• Day 3

– Talk from MD of skateboarding footwear company– Brainstorming and prepare presentation– Student presentations and awards

Project INTX

OutcomesOutcomes• Products

– Shinsock– Self erecting tent

• Outcomes– Local school has seen interest in textiles from boys soar– In a cohort of 70 GCSE students, number of boys has

risen from 5 to 19– Interest from other schools– From our perspective, it is a longer term investment– “Textiles are great”

Project INTX

Widening ParticipationWidening Participation

• Government wants 50% of young people to go through Higher Education

• Supporting this with WP money• WP – attracting students into HE from non-traditional

backgrounds• We have used WP money to fund much of our

outreach and support work

Project INTX

ConclusionsConclusions

• The UK textile industry needs technically competent university graduates

• We have developed a range of support mechanisms for school textile teachers

• Project INTX has shown that boys want to study textiles …

• … they just don’t realise it yet!

Conclusions

Thank youThank you