Show Up, Held Up, & Brought Up: Women in Design
Over the past decade design has proven itself a powerful business differentiator. Companies in all industries understand the value that design plays in helping their businesses succeed. Those in design leadership positions at multinational companies have a focused design agenda. Companies with design at the core clearly out perform those that don’t: “ in the past 10 years, design-driven companies outperformed the Standard & Poor’s 500 — a stock market index of 500 large publicly traded companies — by 228%.” (Fast Company) Now that design has a firm seat at the table, how can it continue to push boundaries? The answer might not be in the output, but rather in the input.
We all know that women have made great strides in all industries around the world, especially in developed markets. We see women breaking into politics, leading countries, knocking down barriers in science and breaking through countless other glass ceilings. However, women still aren’t rising as fast or as high in business. Particularly in conservative business sectors like manufacturing, textiles and consumer packaged goods, among others. A handful of Fortune 500 companies are run by women and those that truly believe in design as a differentiator, those companies outperform those that don’t. “women CEOs in the Fortune 1000 drive three times the returns as S&P 500 enterprises run predominantly by men”. (Fortune).
A beverage marketer recently told the advertising world that he was tired of walking into a room and only seeing people who looked like him; that the majority of his consumer base was not reflected at most agency meetings. As a market, women represent a bigger opportunity than China and India combined (Harvard Busines Review)yet they are still underrepresented in boardrooms or of most companies and their partners.
Design can’t prove ROI and women need to work harder to get ahead, it’s one excuse or another. It’s time to design the solution. If design is making it’s way faster into every boardroom and getting the seat at the table, then it’s our chance, Design’s chance, to be sure that women are represented. It’s time to keep pushing progress and leapfrog from the importance of design within in business to women in design.
There are three things that the design industry can do to ensure it is set up to shape the future of women in design, women in business: inspire women to show up, encourage they are held up and insure they are brought up.
Show Up: Sometimes the hardest step to make, is the first one. Design schools like many higher education institutions in developing countries have a high percentage of women. The arts, humanites, communication all track high for female enrollment. However, those same numbers are not reflected in the careers of many designers. There are many findings highlighting the lack of female creative directors, strategy directors and production directors throughout the design industry. What transpires from school to full time work? It’s in the purview of the design industry to help bring women into the fold, to get them to show up and prove themselves. It is the design agencies that can inspire women to see a career and chart a long-term course to success. It is then up to women currently in the field to show what we together can accomplish; to be key players in the boardrooms, the brainstorms and the lead the creative advancement of businesses world-wide.
As more and more women show up, prove their talents, deliver great work it’s increasingly important that they are recognized for it. Too many times women are timid, insecure, or uncomfortable talking about their successes. This is something that is learned therefore it can be unlearned. Design agencies have the opportunity to be sure that women are held up for what they deliver; that women are at the award ceremonies, that women are the voices at conferences and that women have the chance to be seen and heard. It is also equally important to be sure women know what their path to success looks like and the clear opportunities to get their.
Finally, the design industry has is to bring up the next generation. Many times women spend so much time fighting and pushing their way through their career that they forgot about the women that will come after them. Not only is it important for women to mentor other women, but equally important for design agencies to think about how to develop their female talent. The question they should be asking, is how are they bringing up the next generation of design leadership? Young women in design need exposure to clients — meetings, dinners — to interact with executives at design firms, to understand their career paths, to attend industry conferences to see and to be heard. The more exposure and diverse experiences early on, the better role models women become.
I recently had the chance to speak on a panel focused on women in design at the Package Design Matters Conference in Florida in January. It was my first panel discussion and I was the youngest person on the panel by 10+ years. Leading up to the panel discussion I was asked to write an article about my thoughts of women in design. Above was my output. It never saw the light of day, however I’ve realized what I wrote is more true than ever. What I learned from my fist panel discussion was that you truly do miss 100% of the shots you never take. I may not have been the first choice to be included with women who’ve had 25+ years in the industry, but just by simply asking and pushing to be included, I was.
I showed up, I’ve been held up and now it’s my turn (my opportunity) to push the envelope to bring up and prove what’s next for design, women in design.
