Gender balance in design: Creating an equal future

In time for Internation Women’s Day, Aileen Lee looks at a gender balance initiative by the Institute of Designers in Ireland.

MUCH like the efforts being made to increase female participation in STEM careers, the Institute of Designers in Ireland (IDI) is launching Why Design, a gender-balance initiative for the Irish Design sector. The present demographic for design in this country is 25% female to 75% male, with even lower numbers of women working in more technical aspects of design.