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The Need for Customized Academic Dresses for the Tertiary Institutions in Ghana: A Study of Kumasi Technical University Community

Received: 10 September 2019    Accepted: 4 October 2019    Published: 25 October 2019
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Abstract

Issues have been raised about the identity challenges that seem to have characterized most tertiary institutions in Ghana especially the Technical Universities as regards the academic gown usage during academic ceremonies. The usual practice is that Institutions who do not own the gowns hire from the traditional universities whose aims and philosophies are often at variance with them and in effect results in identity crisis. The aim of this paper was to investigate the issues concerning how gowns are used in the study area and the design expectations for befitting customized gowns. To do that descriptive research with cross sectional survey was undertaken in the study area using convenience and simple random sampling techniques and data were collected from 400 respondents. The findings were that most respondents recognised the existence of the issues pertinent to the use of the academic ensembles that amount to identity challenges and admitted that these issues need to be addressed by acquiring befitting customised academic dresses. Additionally, respondents were almost unanimously in favour of the various gown components designed to portray the philosophies and traditions of the institution and its faculties, be of good quality material, exquisitely sewn and being durable. Respondents indicated the need for deans of faculties to have special academic costumes specific to their status and positions and in all, they were of the view that gowns must have an indigenous traditional touch. It is thus recommended that all academic institutions in Ghana should acquire their own academic dresses which are in tune with their philosophies and traditions and capable of visibly differentiating them from their sister institutions. This outcome will help policy makers in their quest for the appropriate academic robes for their various institutions and faculties and also whip up interest for acquiring befitting academic robes. It will as well add to the body of knowledge for the use by the academia and other interested researchers.

Published in American Journal of Art and Design (Volume 4, Issue 3)
DOI 10.11648/j.ajad.20190403.12
Page(s) 31-40
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Identity Crisis, Academic Dress, Tertiary Institutions, Academic Gown Issues, Design Expectations, Ghana

References
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Peggy Maansah Ankai Howard, Michael Ato Essuman, Thomas Obeng Asare, Kweku Bedu Simpson. (2019). The Need for Customized Academic Dresses for the Tertiary Institutions in Ghana: A Study of Kumasi Technical University Community. American Journal of Art and Design, 4(3), 31-40. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajad.20190403.12

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    ACS Style

    Peggy Maansah Ankai Howard; Michael Ato Essuman; Thomas Obeng Asare; Kweku Bedu Simpson. The Need for Customized Academic Dresses for the Tertiary Institutions in Ghana: A Study of Kumasi Technical University Community. Am. J. Art Des. 2019, 4(3), 31-40. doi: 10.11648/j.ajad.20190403.12

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    AMA Style

    Peggy Maansah Ankai Howard, Michael Ato Essuman, Thomas Obeng Asare, Kweku Bedu Simpson. The Need for Customized Academic Dresses for the Tertiary Institutions in Ghana: A Study of Kumasi Technical University Community. Am J Art Des. 2019;4(3):31-40. doi: 10.11648/j.ajad.20190403.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajad.20190403.12,
      author = {Peggy Maansah Ankai Howard and Michael Ato Essuman and Thomas Obeng Asare and Kweku Bedu Simpson},
      title = {The Need for Customized Academic Dresses for the Tertiary Institutions in Ghana: A Study of Kumasi Technical University Community},
      journal = {American Journal of Art and Design},
      volume = {4},
      number = {3},
      pages = {31-40},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajad.20190403.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajad.20190403.12},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajad.20190403.12},
      abstract = {Issues have been raised about the identity challenges that seem to have characterized most tertiary institutions in Ghana especially the Technical Universities as regards the academic gown usage during academic ceremonies. The usual practice is that Institutions who do not own the gowns hire from the traditional universities whose aims and philosophies are often at variance with them and in effect results in identity crisis. The aim of this paper was to investigate the issues concerning how gowns are used in the study area and the design expectations for befitting customized gowns. To do that descriptive research with cross sectional survey was undertaken in the study area using convenience and simple random sampling techniques and data were collected from 400 respondents. The findings were that most respondents recognised the existence of the issues pertinent to the use of the academic ensembles that amount to identity challenges and admitted that these issues need to be addressed by acquiring befitting customised academic dresses. Additionally, respondents were almost unanimously in favour of the various gown components designed to portray the philosophies and traditions of the institution and its faculties, be of good quality material, exquisitely sewn and being durable. Respondents indicated the need for deans of faculties to have special academic costumes specific to their status and positions and in all, they were of the view that gowns must have an indigenous traditional touch. It is thus recommended that all academic institutions in Ghana should acquire their own academic dresses which are in tune with their philosophies and traditions and capable of visibly differentiating them from their sister institutions. This outcome will help policy makers in their quest for the appropriate academic robes for their various institutions and faculties and also whip up interest for acquiring befitting academic robes. It will as well add to the body of knowledge for the use by the academia and other interested researchers.},
     year = {2019}
    }
    

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    AB  - Issues have been raised about the identity challenges that seem to have characterized most tertiary institutions in Ghana especially the Technical Universities as regards the academic gown usage during academic ceremonies. The usual practice is that Institutions who do not own the gowns hire from the traditional universities whose aims and philosophies are often at variance with them and in effect results in identity crisis. The aim of this paper was to investigate the issues concerning how gowns are used in the study area and the design expectations for befitting customized gowns. To do that descriptive research with cross sectional survey was undertaken in the study area using convenience and simple random sampling techniques and data were collected from 400 respondents. The findings were that most respondents recognised the existence of the issues pertinent to the use of the academic ensembles that amount to identity challenges and admitted that these issues need to be addressed by acquiring befitting customised academic dresses. Additionally, respondents were almost unanimously in favour of the various gown components designed to portray the philosophies and traditions of the institution and its faculties, be of good quality material, exquisitely sewn and being durable. Respondents indicated the need for deans of faculties to have special academic costumes specific to their status and positions and in all, they were of the view that gowns must have an indigenous traditional touch. It is thus recommended that all academic institutions in Ghana should acquire their own academic dresses which are in tune with their philosophies and traditions and capable of visibly differentiating them from their sister institutions. This outcome will help policy makers in their quest for the appropriate academic robes for their various institutions and faculties and also whip up interest for acquiring befitting academic robes. It will as well add to the body of knowledge for the use by the academia and other interested researchers.
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Author Information
  • Department of Fashion Design and Textile Studies, Kumasi Technical University, Kumasi, Ghana

  • Department of Fashion Design and Textile Studies, Kumasi Technical University, Kumasi, Ghana

  • Department of Fashion Design and Textile Studies, Kumasi Technical University, Kumasi, Ghana

  • Department of Architectural Drafting, Accra Technical Training Centre, Accra, Ghana

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