Communicating effectively: Teaching lessons about dress for the workplace

The purposes of this study were to analyze the relationship between students ’ perceived similarities to teachers and student learning, and to analyze the relationship between students ’ perceived differences from teachers and student learning in a seminar about workplace dress. Students assessed how similar or different they thought they were to teachers in attitude, background, morality, and appearance variables. They also assessed teacher credibility and how much they learned in the seminar. Mean scores of responses recorded on a seven point Likert scale indicated that the 38 students felt they were similar to seminar teachers. Correlation calculations revealed that similarity in appearance, particularly size correlated with student learning. Similarity in an attitude variable and teacher credibility also correlated with student learning. In recent years there has been confusion about what is appropriate to wear at work. A whole generation has been raised in jeans, t-shirts, and sweats (Agins, 1999; Dickerson, 2003). Popular media has described a shift back to a preference for formal dress in the workplace as many companies are attempting to change expectations of workplace attire. The CEO o