Redressing The Gender Imbalance in Textile Education

1. Redressing The Gender Imbalance in Textile Education 7th IFFTE Conference Tokyo 2005 Dr. Mark Bradshaw Senior Lecturer Department of Fashion & Textiles De Montfort University Leicester, England

2. Introduction • Context • Industry • Education • 3 strategies for working with schools/FE • Project INTX • Conclusions

3. Context Doom 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

4. Context 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

5. Context … and 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

6. Strategies Strategy 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

7. Strategies Strategy 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

8. Strategies Educate 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

9. Strategies Strategy 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

10. Project INTX Project INTX (INto TeXtiles) • 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!

11. Project INTX Project INTX (INto TeXtiles) • 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”

12. Project INTX Project INTX (INto TeXtiles) • 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

13. Project INTX Day 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

14. Project INTX Day 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

15. Project INTX Day 3 • Day 3 • Talk from MD of skateboarding footwear company • Brainstorming and prepare presentation • Student presentations and awards

16. Project INTX Outcomes • 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”

17. Project INTX Widening 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

18. Conclusions Conclusions • 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!

19. Thank you