Task gender orientation perceptions by novice designers: implications for engineering design research, teaching and practice

Gül E. Okudan, Susan Mohammed

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

27 Scopus citations

Abstract

This paper presents a study where (1) task gender orientation perceptions of novice designers, and (2) reasons underlying the perceived gender orientation were studied. Data collection included both quantitative and qualitative methods. Results indicate that indeed, design tasks may be seen as having a gender orientation due to perceptions regarding the design task domain. Further, if a task domain is deemed as favoring a gender, the reasons for doing so are related to the gender associations of institutions, objects, actions, and related knowledge. In terms of implications for future research, the current study suggests that the gender orientation of tasks can vary considerably and should be controlled for or taken into account when interpreting design performance results. In terms of implications for engineering design teaching, it is recommended that careful attention be given to the selection of applied projects in order to avoid domains with strong masculine or feminine overtones. Instead, the design problem should be framed to be gender neutral.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)723-740
Number of pages18
JournalDesign Studies
Volume27
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 1 2006

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Architecture
  • Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)
  • General Engineering
  • General Social Sciences
  • Computer Science Applications
  • Artificial Intelligence

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Task gender orientation perceptions by novice designers: implications for engineering design research, teaching and practice'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this