Professor Tameka Ellington: Fashion Design is a STEM Career

When the topic is career choices for women in the STEM disciplines (science, technology, engineering and math) the job of fashion designer may not immediately come to mind.  But it should, says Tameka Ellington Ph.D., Kent State University associate professor of fashion.

From the geometry needed to design, measure and cut dress patterns to the math needed to crunch sales figures and retail data, Dr. Ellington recently explained to WKYC’s Betsy Kling how fashion is very much a STEM career.

“The business of fashion has a lot to do with retail math,” Dr. Ellington said. “Also, when you think about the actual apparel manufacturing, there’s a lot of geometry in pattern making.”

Dr. Ellington has been teaching at Kent State since 2005; she specializes in technical design and apparel manufacturing. Earlier this year, she was honored with the Rising Star Award from the International Textile and Apparel Association.

Her creative scholarship, which focuses on African culture and fables, has achieved international acclaim.

Watch the entire broadcast at https://www.wkyc.com/article/news/girls-in-stem-in-high-fashion/95-603551465

To learn more about The Fashion School at Kent State, visit https://www.kent.edu/fashion