Research Statement

As an educator and practitioner, my research centers on strengthening the learning experiences that prepare fashion and creative discipline students for successful careers. I examine teaching practices, curriculum design, and experiential learning models that influence student development, skill acquisition, and entrepreneurial readiness. This work clarifies how higher education can better support students as they move toward professional roles. Building on these insights, I also investigate the early stage challenges faced by emerging fashion entrepreneurs and small creative businesses. These two areas are intentionally connected, since effective educational strategies lead to stronger outcomes in industry settings.

By linking evidence from academic environments with the practical needs of the fashion sector, my research develops solutions that can be implemented in classrooms and adopted by entrepreneurs. This integrated approach creates a clear pathway between education and industry, ensuring that scholarly work contributes directly to real world decision making and long term success for creative professionals.

Research Interests

Across all my work, I aim to produce findings that inform curriculum development, strengthen teaching, support entrepreneurship training, and guide strategic decision making for small businesses.

#1 - Fashion Entrepreneurship Education

My research is grounded in my lived experience as a fashion entrepreneur and educator. I study how individuals without traditional business backgrounds learn to navigate entrepreneurship, build successful ventures, and create sustainable careers in the fashion industry. My work investigates the learning processes, decision making strategies, and real world challenges that emerging entrepreneurs face when they enter the fashion sector through non business pathways. I am interested in how they acquire entrepreneurial knowledge, how their approaches differ from those with formal business training, and how creative discipline environments shape their development.

#3 - Small Business Social Sustainability

A third area of my research centers on social sustainability in fashion. I am interested in the practices, values, and community centered approaches that small businesses use to address social issues. My work explores how entrepreneurs incorporate cultural identity, representation, inclusivity, and community impact into their business models and how these practices influence both consumers and emerging designers.

#2 - Consumer Behavior in E-commerce

My research also examines the role of e-commerce in small business success. After running an online business for over a decade, I aim to understand how independent fashion entrepreneurs manage e commerce operations, how digital platforms shape their growth, and how consumer behavior differs between online and traditional retail settings. My goal is to identify practical insights that help new entrepreneurs leverage digital spaces more effectively and make informed decisions about branding, customer engagement, and market positioning.

#4 - AI in Higher Education

I also study the integration of artificial intelligence in higher education, particularly within fashion programs. As I continue incorporating AI into my own courses, I aim to understand how instructors and students experience AI assisted learning, how it influences creativity and skill development, and what opportunities and challenges it presents for teaching in creative disciplines. This line of research responds to an urgent need for guidance on responsible and effective AI integration in design education.

Miller Faculty Fellowship Grant Research Project

Amount: $50,000

Timeline: 2025 - 2026

Project Title: A Cross Course, AI Enriched Collaboration: Embedding Four High Impact Practices for Students’ Future Readiness

My Role: Graduate Instructor of Record (FDM 2450) and Research Assistant (RA)
Supporting literature review, course pack development, AI modules, survey development, data analysis, and manuscript preparation.

Project Description

This grant project enhances Iowa State University's Fashion Design and Merchandising program by developing and integrating AI application modules within a cross course collaboration between a sophomore level merchandising course (FDM 2450 - taught by me) and a senior level design capstone (FDM 4950).
Design course “clients” and merchandising course “branding firm representatives” work together using a variety of AI tools to develop a fashion collection and an accompanying brand identity which includes logo design and store design. This client based structure helps students gain industry skills in design, branding, and consumer analysis through communication intensive learning. The project culminates in a final showcase that functions as a capstone experience.
This curriculum positions ISU as a leader in fashion education because of its cross functional, entrepreneurial, and AI assisted emphasis, and it strengthens student career readiness through High Impact Practices including communication intensive assignments, cross team collaborations, innovation and entrepreneurship, peer leadership, and capstone experience.
Outcomes include the dissemination of peer reviewed scholarship on AI pedagogy.

Research Publication
(Pipeline in progress)

1. Mutunda, B., Hurst, J. L., Wiryadi, W. (Date TBD). FINESSE: Leveraging AI and 3D Virtual Fashion to Transform Sustainable Fast Fashion
Production and Enhance Consumer Trust.

Research Focus: Case study examining AI enabled design, production, and consumer facing processes in an emergent digital fashion enterprise.
Status: Proposal accepted by Bloomsbury; second manuscript edit under review with editor.
Target Journal/Publisher: Bloomsbury Fashion Central (confirmed & approved 09/30/2025).
Significance: Contributes to emerging scholarship on AI driven fashion systems and real world adoption of artificial intelligence in design and production.

2. Mutunda, B., Chung, D. (Date TBD). Are Business Incubator Programs Missing the Basics? A Semantic Network Analysis of Foundational Business Concepts in U.S. University Based Entrepreneurship Support Programs.

Research Focus: Investigates the conceptual foundations of university-based incubator-based programs and examines whether essential business concepts are represented, clearly communicated, or missing from program curricula and marketing materials.
Status: Completed manuscript; currently identifying the most suitable journal for submission.
Target Journals: ITAA , Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior and Research, Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development,
Entrepreneurship and Regional Development
Significance: Provides evidence of conceptual gaps in incubator support programs, with implications for entrepreneurship education in creative disciplines.

3. Mutunda, B., Fiore, A. M. (Date TBD). Learning by Doing: A Pilot Study of Experiential Learning in an Undergraduate Aesthetics and Branding Course.

Research Focus: Examines how experiential learning structures influence student confidence, application of course concepts, and perceived career readiness in fashion branding education.
Status: Data collection phase; IRB protocol approved (IRB ID: 25 168) & manuscript in active edit.
Target Journal: ITAA
Significance: Offers initial evidence on the effectiveness of experiential branding pedagogy for FDM students.

4. Mutunda, B. (Date TBD). Bridging the Gap: A Mixed Methods Evaluation of University Based Entrepreneurship Support Networks in Preparing Non Business Majors for Business Ownership.

Research Focus: Investigates the effectiveness of entrepreneurship support networks for creative discipline students who do not have formal business training.
Status: Dissertation proposal approved; manuscript in active revision.
Target Journals: Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, Entrepreneurship and Regional Development
Significance: Addresses a major gap in entrepreneurship education literature by centering the experiences of university students who major in non-business programs within university based support ecosystems to see if they are properly equid to succeed as entrepreneurs and business owners.

5. Mutunda, B. (Date TBD). From Strategy to Engagement: A Two Phase Study on the Impact of Product Presentation on Consumer Behavior and Business Performance in Micro Fashion E Commerce.

Research Focus: A two phase study examining how product presentation influences consumer decision making and business outcomes for small fashion e-commerce brands.
Status: Preparing IRB application; introduction, literature review, and method sections completed.
Target Journals: Journal of Fashion Marketing and ManagementEntrepreneurship and Regional Development, Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, International Journal of Retail and Distribution Management.
Significance: Enhances understanding of consumer behavior in e-commerce and offers practical implications for small fashion entrepreneurs.

6. Mutunda, B., Orescanin, A., Fiore, A. M. (Date TBD). Exploring Undergraduate Teaching Assistant Experiences in Fashion Education through Social Cognitive Career Theory.

Research Focus: Explores how undergraduate teaching assistants develop confidence, teaching skills, and early career direction through instructional mentorship in fashion programs.
Status: Preparing IRB submission; manuscript in development.
Target Journal: ITAA.
Significance: Contributes to limited scholarship on TA development in creative discipline programs.

7. Mutunda, B. (Date TBD). Designing an AI Assistant for a Fashion Branding Course: A Replicable Framework for AI Enhanced Pedagogy in Higher Education.

Research Focus: Develops and evaluates a custom GPT AI assistant designed to support branding students through research, concept development, and creative decision making.
Status: Manuscript in progress.
Target Journals/Symposia: Louisiana State University 2026 Fashion and AI Policy Symposium, Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, International Journal of Retail and Distribution Management, Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior and Research, ITAA.
Significance: Offers one of the first replicable AI enhanced pedagogical frameworks for fashion education.

Books

#1 Stop Playing with Your Skills. Your CEO Era Begins Now!: The Entrepreneur’s Playbook for Turning Side Hustles into Real and Scalable Businesses . by Belange Mutunda

About this book: A comprehensive guide teaching entrepreneurs how to transform side hustles into legitimate businesses through strategic funding options, business credit building, and passive income creation.

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