6.1.1 Graduate profile.
The types of positions held by the graduates are aligned with the careers options that are expected from studying the Bachelor of Fashion (Merchandise Management) program at RMIT University. These positions can be categorised as roles in design, merchandising, buying, planning and sales. Typically these positions form the basis of a product development team. Many graduates considered themselves to be in assistant roles confirming that they were in the early stages of their career.
6.1.2 Graduate attitudes and knowledge of sustainability issues.
When questioned on how important sustainability was to them personally 66% indicated that it was an important issue. Cross tabulated questionnaire results indicated no major differences with the respondent’s year of graduation.
When graduates were asked about what sustainability issues concerned them, the majority raised environmental matters. Other prominent issues raised related to ethical trading, supplier relationships and productivity. When asked if their Bachelor of Fashion (Merchandise Management) studies assisted them in understanding sustainability related to the fashion and textiles industry, the majority said yes. When asked to recall the key aspects of their undergraduate learning in sustainability, the main responses related to the TBL concept.
In comparing the findings of what sustainable issues are important to them and what sustainable issues they learnt from their studies in the Bachelor of Fashion (Merchandise Management), the responses were similar. That is, in both situations, sustainability issues related to social, environmental and economic (competition and productivity).
These responses indicate that the majority of graduates think that sustainability is an important issue, that they do understand sustainability as key concepts as studied in the Bachelor of Fashion (Merchandise Management) program and that their studies assisted them with their knowledge and understanding of sustainability overall.
6.1.3 Fashion industry response to sustainability issues and graduate perspectives. When surveyed about their knowledge of who was responsible for the sustainability plan within their organisation, more than 46% of graduates did not know. The management
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representatives from the two large companies that were interviewed indicated however, that they had dedicated sustainability teams with overall responsibility residing with the Chief Executing Officer and the executive team. This indicates a lack of communication within the whole organisation about clear roles and responsibilities in relation to sustainability practice. When interviewed both Company A and B stated that their sustainability strategy was built around two pillars:
1. Corporate Social Responsibility (including social policies related to ethical sourcing, community involvement, and the environment).
2. Productivity and economic organisational management (the efficient use of resources to remain financially sustainable as a business in the long term).
Graduates who were surveyed recognised corporate social responsibility (social and environmental) and productivity as the primary drivers for sustainability within their company. Two questions were asked of graduates in regard to rating their employer in terms of their understanding of sustainability and their ethical responsibility. The results were cross tabulated with the size of the company in which they were employed.
These responses indicated that organisations are not successfully communicating their vision or requirements for a sustainability response to all their employees. In addition, the size of the fashion organisation may have a bearing on whether there are adequate resources to formally practice sustainability within the business. That is, there was a higher negative response for small-to-medium sized businesses on sustainability organisational knowledge. However the positive ethics response for these small-to-medium sized companies may indicate a level of confidence in their organisation’s management to operate sustainably.
As indicated in Chapter 5 the majority of graduates did not think that their organisation had a sustainability plan.
This contrasts with the Industry Interview findings with the leaders stating that they do have sustainability plans and that they do have formal policies and procedures. This indicates once again that there is lack of communication within the organisation as a whole, this time in terms of sharing and understanding the organisation’s sustainability plans and procedures.
The fact that the majority of graduate’s employed in smaller businesses indicated that their company did not have a sustainability plan in place, suggests that smaller organisations did not have the time or adequate resources to strategically plan for sustainability. As previously discussed in the research methodology chapter, additional industry interviews could have been conducted from organisations with less than 100 employees to provide broader industry perspectives.
6.1.4 Graduate sustainability practice and employer support.
When graduates were asked if sustainability was a responsibility within their job description, most respondents said “no”. This is consistent with the responses from the company
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representatives interviewed. In addition most graduates stated that they did not discuss sustainability issues at their team meetings.
Where questionnaire results related to organisational support for employees to practice sustainability, more than half of the respondents were not aware of any professional development or support activities with limited training and education or on the job support. Cross tabulated questionnaire results indicated that there was a significant difference in relation to size of organisation and the provision of employee sustainability professional development and support. For organisations with fewer than 100 employees, only 20% of respondents indicated that professional development or support for sustainability was provided by their employer whereas, 58% of respondents who were employed with organisations with more than 100 employees were provided with such training and support. This indicates that smaller businesses may not have the resources to provide professional development and support activities.
Contrasting these results both companies A & B stated that they do not provide staff with professional development or support to practise sustainability.
This finding is contradictory to the graduate questionnaire. That is, a significant number of graduate responses have indicated that that sustainability professional development has been undertaken but the company management representatives state that no professional development or support for sustainability is provided. This could indicate that the graduate is recognising that sustainability is embedded within professional development activities rather than a specific program that is centred upon sustainability practice. Further research is required to explain this contradiction.
6.2 Addressing the aims and objectives of this research
The aim of this research was to determine whether those who studied the Bachelor of Fashion (Merchandise Management) program attained knowledge of sustainability issues from their studies. In addition, the research sought to determine whether the workplace environment was either enhancing or impeding the practice of sustainability among employed graduates.
From the research results it can be concluded that graduates have maintained their knowledge of sustainable practice classified within three key areas: corporate social responsibility, environmental and business economic productivity. However, the organisations they are employed in are not providing the workplace environment for them to apply their skills and knowledge.
In terms of the research objectives the following can be concluded:
Objective 1: To determine current graduate sustainability knowledge and practice