Careers During COVID: Fashion Students’ Confidence in the Face of a Pandemic

Abstract

Background and Rationale:The COVID-19 Pandemic has had serious effects on college student's mental health (Son et al., 2020). In particular, previous research demonstrates that differences in the level of COVID-19's economic and health impact can explain a significant proportion of the demographic gaps in COVID-19's influence on the decision to delay graduation, the decision to change major, and preferences for online learning (Aucejo et al., 2020;Cicha et al., 2021). Moreover, it is increasingly difficult for first-generation college students who are faced with the decision to provide with their family who may be experiencing financial or health shocks and achieve their goals of attaining college education (Garces-Jimenez, 2020). This suggests that focusing on the needs of students who are experiencing financial or health shocks due to COVID-19 could be a solution to minimize existing achievement gaps in higher education. Additionally, Fashion Merchandising students are like many employeed in the retail industry where workers are experiencing an increase in abuse related to customer service changes and uncertainty over continued employment (Sundar et al., 2021). In fact, just reading about the negative impact of the pandemic on the fashion industry (e.g. doomscrolling) may heighten the level of stress and reduce confidence about future career outlook (Bushwick, 2021). Finally, those in minority groups are more likely to be experiencing disparate health and employment impact due to the pandemic (Tai et al., 2021). A study from Arizona State University looking at the impact of the pandemic on students found that job loss, illness and fear of hospitalization can reduce the confidence students have in future earnings (Aucejo et al., 2020). Thus, the rationale of this study was to examine the current situation of Fashion Merchandising students at a large Hispanic Serving Institution in the Southwest related to their employment outlook considering the COVID-19 pandemic and discuss theoretical and practical implications for educators to enhance their learning experiences. Method: We recruited 480 fashion merchandising majors or minors to participate in an online survey. After a two-week recruitment period, 103 students responded to the survey, a 21.46% participation rate. After responding to scales on career preparedness (McAuliffe et al., 2006), stress levels (Lemyre & Tessier, 2003) and health impact (Aucejo et al., 2020), students were randomly assigned to one of two groups to read a positive or negative headline about the impact that COVID-19 had on the fashion industry. One group read a positive headline (e.g., "The pandemic has created a moment for the industry to pause and rebrand in a more sustainable, ethical way"); the other group read a negative headline (e.g., "The fashion industry is facing loss of jobs and companies struggle to stay open"). The impact of either negative or positive news headlines about the fashion industry was measured by repeating of three questions from earlier in the survey: industry o...