Redressing the gender balance

1. Redressing the gender balance Dr. Mark Bradshaw Senior Lecturer Department of Fashion & Textiles De Montfort University Leicester, England

2. Introduction • Setting the scene • Industry • Education • 3 strategies for working with schools • Project INTX • Conclusions

3. Setting the scene 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. Setting the scene This was then …. • 15 years ago …. • Thriving industry • Many students • Predominantly male • Many BSc Textiles courses nationally, easy to attract students • Leicester Polytechnic had an international reputation

5. Setting the scene … and this is now • Mass manufacturing nearly gone • Niche manufacturing strong, technical textiles and corporate clothing (BA, MOD etc) are buoyant • Many students • Most study BA Fashion or Design • Nearly all female • Nationally • More than 90 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 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 since

8. Strategies Industrial Design & Practice • The Textile Industry • the globalisation, international sourcing, product development. • Textile Design & Production • fabric specifications and manufacture, CAD/CAM, modern fabrics (Gore-Tex, etc). • Finishing and coloration • Garment Design & Manufacture • specifications, construction techniques, PDM, quality and QA, product lifecycle, performance evaluation.

9. Strategies Educate the educators • Seen our application numbers rise dramatically • This was our goal and will remain so • Our priorities have changed along the way • Understand the National Curriculum for Textiles • Very interesting, technical, industrial, exciting, new technologies – a course you would want to study!! • Most teachers have little or no industrial background, or access to suitable materials • Textiles in schools is art based/interiors/the cat walk

10. 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

11. Strategies Strategy 3. Support • Support them in the classroom situation • Developing classroom resources – project students • Making materials available online

12. Project INTX Project INTX (INto TeXtiles) • Traditionally, not many boys at school study textiles • “Textiles is GAY” • Project INTX aims to dispel the myth that textiles is just pink dresses and cushions • Aimed at Year`8 boys before they choose GCSE subjects • It is not difficult to turn boys on to Textiles!

13. Project INTX Project INTX (INto TeXtiles) • 3 day event • Boys presented with a lively textile industry • Challenges their perception of what textiles are • Boys invent millionaire-making textile product • Present idea to the group • Whole event is aimed at the “WOW” factor

14. Project INTX Day 1 • Day 1 • Presentation techniques • Visit local skateboard park and have skateboard demonstration from a local team • Lecture on textiles in Formula 1 racing from BAR chief designer • Practical experiment comparing strength of traditional textile materials with Kevlar using an Instron • Lecture on Textile Futurology from scientist at Unilever • Brainstorming event – killer product that will make them a millionaire

15. Project INTX Day 2 • Day 2 • Visit to Military Clothing base • Lecture from serving soldiers on different types of military clothing, flak jackets, etc • Tour of military clothing testing facilities • Talk on ballistic impact and bullet proof jackets

16. Project INTX Day 3 • Day 3 • Talk from MD of skateboarding footwear company • Prepare presentation • Student presentations and awards

17. Project INTX Outcomes • Outcomes • Local school has seen interest in textiles from boys soar • In a cohort of 60, number of boys has risen from 5 to 19. • From the universities perspective, it is a longer term investment

18. Project INTX Rationale • Reasons why boys don’t study textiles • Stereotype images – “textiles is gay” • Peer pressure – their mates are taking Resistant Materials • Parental influence – low paid, female oriented career • On open days, parental influence is different!

19. Project INTX Widening Participation • Government wants 50% of young people to go through Higher Education • Supporting this with WP money • We have used WP money to fund much of our outreach work

20. Conclusions Conclusions • The UK textile industry needs technically competent graduates • We have developed a range of support mechanisms for school textile teachers • We have seen our student application numbers rise as a result • Project INTX has shown that boys want to study textiles, they just don’t realise it yet!