Gender Bias in Industrial Design

#1

Examples of Gender Bias

#2

Appearance

Unequal pay

Education

#3

Examples of Industrial Design

#4

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Design is supposed to be innovative and forward, but it falls behind in diversity, inclusion, and equality.

• Diversity also means diversity of thought = diversity in experience, perspective, and creativity
• Race, ethnicity, gender, age, sexual identity, disability, and location can attribute to having more diversity in thought
• Have diverse clients = need diverse designers to create suitable products

#1

In 2018, women made up about 10-15% of industrial designers

#2

• Women leave the industry at fast rates, contributing to the low number. Some reasons are:
• The way design is taught restricts the opportunities women can get after graduating because male-dominated skill sets are prioritized
• Lack of female educators/mentors
• Unsupportive culture
• limited advancement in career
• non-accommodating work-life balance

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Crash-Test Dummies

Crash-test dummies for cars are made to be models of the average 50th-percentile male. The female models are just scaled down versions of that model. It does not account for anatomical differences or conditions, like pregnancy. Thus, women are more likely to get hurt in a car crash.

#1

Voice Recoginition

Voice recognition is unintentionally trained to recognize male voices better than female voices because the creators are generally male.

#2

Conclusion

#3

The lack of women in the teams that make these products and the lack of accurate data on women results in faulty and sometimes dangerous products.

To solve this problem, we need more women designing products and in leadership positions. In addition, we need to collect accurate sex-aggregated data.

Learn more below!

#4

Check out this article to learn more and meet author Caroline Criado Perez who wrote Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men:

https://www.evoke.org/articles/july-2019/data-driven/deep_dives/the-dangers-of-gender-bias-in-design

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Gender Bias in Toys for Kids

Toys for kids are extremely gender biased. They perpetuate gender stereotypes in kids from a very young age.

#1

Gender Bias in Toys for Kids

If you ever look at a toy section, it is very obviously divided by pink and blue.

#2

What is the Pink Tax?

The pink tax is the extra amount women have to pay for everyday products such as razors, deodorant, shampoo, clothes, dry cleaning, hair cuts, and more.

#1

Tampon Tax

Another point of controversy is that feminine hygiene products, a necessity for most women, are taxed as a luxury item, while things like groceries and prescriptions aren't.

#2

Some more info...

In 2015 study conducted in New York City, it was discovered that retailers often purposely placed similar items with different prices away from each other so that it would be harder to notice the difference.

The pink tax has existed since at least the 1990s.

#3

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Thank you for learning about gender bias in industrial design!

Hope you learned something, and use that knowledge for positive change, whether that be sharing this information or taking action.