Fashion Industry Career Matrix: Encouraging Students to Explore Fashion-Related Careers

Abstract

This paper describes an innovative career exploration project that uses collaborative learning methods and technology to increase design and merchandising students' understanding of career options and progression in fashion industries. The authors describe activities used to engage students in creating a career matrix (Zinser, 2001), a visual tool that uses a spreadsheet style format to display functions in a typical organization horizontally and the education, experience, and salary range at each level vertically. The activity, which has been assigned at two universities, requires student teams to conduct research about careers in the fashion industry using the primary, secondary, retail, and auxiliary industry sectors model. Students display their findings in a career matrix adapted by the authors for the fashion industry. Participants are engaged in active learning as they develop and improve their information literacy skills through information processing, critical thinking, problem solving, and research. Students report increased awareness of the breadth of careers in the industry and an appreciation of the education and experience required for success and career progression.