TDNet Discover

The purpose of this mixed-methods action research study is to investigate the systemic misalignment between pre-licensure cosmetology and barber instructional programs and workforce ecosystem requirements at a privately operated cosmetology and barber school in a southeastern state, and to develop and evaluate a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) instructional framework designed to improve workforce readiness, employment stability, and economic mobility outcomes. For the utility of this study, workforce alignment is defined as the degree to which instructional design, competency development, and employer expectations operate as cohesive, mutually reinforcing systems. The problem is the systemic misalignment between cosmetology and barber pre-licensure instructional programs and workforce ecosystem requirements, resulting in inconsistent post-licensure employment stability and limited economic mobility for graduates — a gap produced by a credentialing architecture that measures institutional success through licensure examination pass rates and clock-hour completion rather than the competency outcomes the workforce ecosystem requires. This study is guided by a fivelayer theoretical framework: General Systems Theory explains the structural origins of the misalignment; Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory maps where the misalignment lives across nested educational and workforce environments; Universal Design for Learning operationalizes the classroom-level intervention through three principles of multiple means of representation, action and expression, and engagement; Andragogy and Experiential Learning explain the mismatch between the adult learner population and the clock-hour pedagogical model; and Culturally Responsive Teaching ensures the intervention advances equity rather than merely replicating access in a more flexible instructional form. The study will be conducted at a single privately operated cosmetology and barber school in a southeastern state working under a pre-2021 curriculum architecture that does not require competency in textured hair services. Four participant groups will contribute data: current students (n = 15-20), recent graduates (n = 10- 15), instructors (n = 2-3), and employer/salon partners (n = 3-5). Data will be collected through 3 nine instruments across a seven-phase, 24-week timeline: program records and curriculum artifact analysis, a learner survey administered pre and post intervention, a theory knowledge pre/post test, competency rubric scores, student focus groups, instructor interviews, a graduate employment survey, employer interviews, and a researcher implementation journal. Quantitative data will be analyzed using descriptive statistics, paired t-tests, and effect size calculations; qualitative data will be analyzed using thematic coding with member checking, negative case analysis, and peer debriefing. Findings from both strands will be merged in a joint display organized by research question to produce convergent findings. Trustworthiness will be established through credibility, transferability, dependability, confirmability, and ethical protections including Institutional Review Board approval, voluntary participation, site and participant anonymization, and physical and electronic data security. The study is expected to produce pre/post improvements in theory knowledge scores and competency rubric ratings, documentation of curriculum — workforce alignment gaps clustered in business literacy, consultation practice, and textured hair competency, and instructor confirmation that the UDL framework is feasible within the existing clock-hour structure without regulatory change. Findings will be disseminated to program staff, workforce partners, the academic community through capstone submission and peer-reviewed journal submission, and to the Tennessee Board of Cosmetology and Barber Examiners through a formal policy brief supporting textured hair curriculum requirements.