Destined to Design? How and Why Australian Women Choose to Study Industrial Design

Abstract

Despite over three decades of legislation and initiatives designed to tackle the traditional gender divide in the science, technology and design fields, only a quarter of the registered architects in Australia are women. There are no statistics available for other design disciplines, with little known about why women choose design as a career path and who or what influences this decision. This qualitative research addresses this knowledge gap, through semistructured in-depth interviews conducted with 19 Australian women who completed an industrial (product) design degree. Thematic analysis revealed three key themes: childhood aptitude and exposure; significant experiences and people; and design as a serendipitous choice. The findings emphasise the importance of early exposure to design as a potential career choice, highlighting the critical role played by parents, teachers, professionals and social networks. KEYWORDS industrial design, design education, womenDesign (the adaptive creative process of creating an object or process) and design thinking (adopting a creative approach to problem solving) have been identified as providing the innovative interdisciplinary framework needed to tackle key twenty-first century challenges, such as population ageing and climate change (Brown 2008). Yet, despite the current attention emphasising the value of design, one issue remains under-studied: women are poorly represented in many design professions in particular with industrial design remaining a male-dominated field. This qualitative study seeks to address this knowledge gap, investigating why women choose design as a career path and who or what influences this decision.Although there is significant anecdotal reporting suggesting a gender disparity, particularly in terms of women's representation and visibility in high-profile design awards and senior leadership roles (Anthony 2001;Fowler & Wilson 2004), exact statistics on women's participation remain scarce, dated and fragmented. At university, enrolment statistics show that women typically comprise approximately a third to half of the design student population; upon graduation, however, they appear to be much less visible in the profession, in terms of winning local, state or national design awards and holding senior roles. This gender distinction in terms of career progression and visibility is apparent through the architecture

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