Gendered by Design: How Women's Place in Design Is Still Defined by Gender

Abstract

Introduction-Formulating the 'Problem Art and Academic Registry (ADAR) figures for students in design courses in England and Wales show a consistent pattern of gendered choices. are under-represented in product and furniture design, and over-represented in fashion and jewelry.' This discrepancy reproduces the stereotypical dualism whereby women are associated with the body and the decorative, and men with technology and the shaping of nature.2 dichotomy of hard and soft is not unique design, and there is a complex relationship between disciplinary cultures and gender.3 unbalanced recruitment across design courses has sustained itself over time despite more than two decades of feminist deconstruction of the categories, and concerted equal opportunities policies in schools. Moreover, the overall profile of women in the profession is poor. Designer Liz Farrelly4 reports on a mysterious absence at the cutting edge and a reluctance of young women in design identify themselves with issues of women's under-achievement and stereotyping, or be associated with feminism. pages of the major trade journals reveal a picture of a profession which, despite the success of some women, portrays itself as highly individualistic and overwhelmingly male. are interested in the ways women, and men, are attracted into different areas in design education and, in particular, the pattern of women's under-representation at the industrial and product end of the spectrum. However, it would be a mistake try conceptualize the problem of women in design as one of women's failure. In schools, girls have begun outperform boys in many areas.5 Well qualified young women, it appears, are in a position exercise positive choices, but are not attracted the hard end of the design spectrum. Our approach is influenced by a substantial body of work from other discipline areas.6 Gerda Siann,7 investigating patterns of gendered choices in computing education, has identified an can, but I don't want to attitude in women towards information technology courses. She suggests that it is not that young women cannot do science and technology, but that they find what is offered unattractive. drift away from computing is an international trend.8 There is also evidence in the literature that equal opportunities 1 W. Mayfield, Participation in Product Education, Journal of and Technology Education 2:2 (1997): 128-133. 2 J. Attfield, FORM/female FOLLOWS FUNCTION/ male: Feminist Critiques of Design in J. A. Walker, ed., History and the History of (London: Pluto, 1989), 199225. 3 K. Thomas, and Subject in Higher Education (Buckingham: SRHE, 1990). 4 L. Farrelly, Mysterious Absence at the Cutting Edge, Eye 5:9 (1995): 6-7. 5 C. Gipps and P. Murphy, A Fair Test? Assessment, Achievement, and Equality (Buckingham: Open University Press, 1994). 6 See, for example, A. Durndell, The Persistence of the Gap in Computing, Computers, and Education 16:4 (1991): 283-287; A. Durndell and P. Lightbody, Gender and Computing: Change Over Time? in Computers and Education 21:4 (1993): 331-6; C. Greed, Surveying Sisters in a Traditional Male Profession (London: Routledge, 1991); A. F. Grundy, and Computers (Exeter: Intellect Books, 1996); and R. Lander, and A. Adam, eds., in Computing(Exeter: Intellect Books, 1997). 7 G. Siann, We Can, Don't Want To: Factors Influencing Women's Participation in Computing In R. Lander and A. Adam, eds., in Computing. 8 R. Wright, Women in Computing: A Cross-National Analysis, in R. Lander and A. Adam, eds., in Computing.