Career Appearance Education for Women Who Aspired To White‐Collar Positions

Abstract

This study was designed to develop a Career Appearance Education unit and to pilot test its effectiveness in business college classes. The unit, designed for black women and white women from working class families, included specially designed slide visuals, lectures, activities, and student manuals. The experimental (n=37) and control (n=20) groups took pretests and posttests, but only the experimental group received career appearance instruction. Black women and white women were included in both treatment groups. A least squares analysis of variance model with a split plot arrangement of three factors—treatment, ethnicity, and tests—was used to determine significant differences in total test scores and in scores in six conceptual categories: First Impressions; Work Roles; Total Look; Clothing Features of Fit, Design Line, and Color; Grooming; and Preparations for Interview and Daily Work. This model enabled a consideration of between‐group and within‐group differences. Significant differences in career appearance knowledge at two levels—total scores and selected category scores—appeared for the main effects of ethnic groups, treatment groups, and test administrations and in the interactions of ethnicity by tests and treatments by tests. The experimental group began with higher scores and also achieved greater gains in knowledge between tests than did the control group. White women in both treatment groups exhibited more knowledge on pretest and posttest, but black women had greater improvement ranges between tests.

Career Appearance: Perceptions of University Students and Recruiters Who Visit Their Campuses

“…As noted in earlier reports, home economists have established the importance of appearance in forming first impressions (Kelley et al, 1977;Kelley et al, 1976). However, they have focused infrequently on appearance in on-going activities.…”

“…of high school students (Good and Kelley, 1971; Kelley, Good, and Walter, 1974); hiring agents, executive secretaries, and newly employed business college graduates (Kelley, Jones, Hatch, and Nelsen, 1976); and business college students (Kelley and Anselmo, 1977). This report is devoted to the perceptions of university students (S) who were preparing to enter the business world and recruiters (R) who visited the university campuses where they were enrolled.…”