Not only did this dress code show status and prestige, it also was believed to communicate a certain authority to the student and other people in the learning environment of a university. Today, a professor is not as easy to recognize. In some cases, he/she might be mistaken for a student. The old dress code has vanished and jeans, sports sneakers, t-shirts, and unbuttoned shirts are quite commonly found in the various scholarly departments.
Clothing is a form of communication. Ever since people started to wear clothes, people were judged by them and according to them by other people. In a learning environment it can be vital to understand the signals different types of clothing sent to the student because "college Student's form consistent stereotypes of persons rated solely on the basis of attire"(Kerr and Dell, 1976 pg 4). The way a student will stereotype his/her professor will greatly impact his/her attitude toward the class based on the fact that "a student's acceptance of information is based in part on "who said it" and not the information itself" (Berlo, Lemert, and Mertz, 1966). The student's initial judgment of the professor as a person can impact the way the student feels about the course the professor teaches. Understanding the effect of clothing on a students perception of the professor can be very helpful in changing a student's attitude toward learning in general. The professor needs to appear competent enough to be credible, but social enough to be .
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Competence and .
likeable. And the attire of the individual will communicate these qualities (negatively or positively) through clothing during the first interactions with the student. During that period, the student will form first impressions that will last throughout the semester. (Johnson, Hadeler, and Workman, 1983) examined the relationship between a teacher assistant's attire and the student's perception of that assistant in detail.