Students' Interest in Undergraduate Fashion and Apparel Design Programs: The Case of Kenyan Universities

Abstract

In the recent past, the Asian countries have thrived in international apparel and textile trade, which is a great determinant of the success of a country’s economy globally. One reason behind the success of their apparel and textile trade is their training programs in fashion and apparel design (FAD). Poor fashion quality in Kenya is attributed to incompetent fashion designers. Interest in the profession is a great asset to any training. This paper investigated into the interest of Kenyan university undergraduate fashion and apparel design students (UUFADSs) in university undergraduate fashion and apparel design programs (UUGFADPs) that they pursued. Information was drawn from a survey study among 99 UUFADSs and 32 university fashion and apparel design staff (UFADS) from five Kenyan universities. The study revealed that students’ interests in fashion and apparel design (FAD) profession was high as reflected in the fact that majority of them said that they chose to study FAD, liked FAD, had jobs or businesses related to FAD, thought of self employment in FAD, planned to further their studies in FAD and were involved in extracurricular activities related to FAD. Students’ lack of interest in FAD was caused by the learning activity/teaching method used in a lesson and too large classes, inadequate learning materials and equipment, gender bias in the teaching staff composition, among other factors.