Evaluating the gap between industry assessment of job readiness and graduation standards in higher education institutions: the case of fashion studies

National Center on Education and the Economy reports have highlighted the need for the USA to prepare its labour force to meet the requirements of the new knowledge base economy. This study examined the current method used by higher education institutions to evaluate students' readiness to graduate with a Bachelors degree in fashion studies and benchmarked it to industry's evaluation of job readiness of new graduates using a critical thinking assessment model. These findings revealed a significant gap when it comes to validating academic readiness with industry expectations. These results are in line with Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development reports calling for immediate action to align higher education's strategic goals to meet the new global and competitive challenges. Keywords: accountabilityevaluationlabour marketsUS higher educational institution and industry Acknowledgements The authors thank the assistance of Theron Desrosier from the Office of Assessment and Innovation at Washington State University for working with all parties involved and for facilitating the success of this study. We also thank all industry partners for the time they volunteered helping us redesign and develop the assessment rubric and for the rich feedback given to the students. The authors also would like to recognise the involvement of the faculty with this study. And finally, we thank the blind reviewers who helped us address a few weak points. However, any additional errors remain those of the authors.