[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-600149-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":80,"doc-detail-600149-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":73,"head_meta":75,"extra_data":77,"updated_unix":79},105,"en","gendered-pathways-in-design-education-findings-from-a-public-university-in-india","Gendered Pathways in Design Education - Findings from a Public University in India","","Gendered Pathways in Design Education analyzes how gender access and capability emerge within design education in India, focusing on the tension between “hard” (industrial) and “soft” (communication) design domains. The study argues that unstructured institutional growth can shift emphasis toward certification rather than substantive outcomes. Using five years of admissions data from a public university in a Tier 2 town and semi-structured interviews with students and alumni, it identifies drivers such as social conventions, perceived safety, learning styles, curricular expenditure, and course briefs.",{"@graph":14,"@context":72},[15,34,55],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/gendered-pathways-in-design-education-findings-from-a-public-university-in-india/600149/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/gendered-pathways-in-design-education-findings-from-a-public-university-in-india/600149.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"nayy☆","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-29","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":26},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",{"@type":56,"mainEntity":57},"FAQPage",[58,64,68],{"name":59,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":61},"What does the study consider “gendered pathways” in design education?","Question",{"text":62,"@type":63},"It refers to how gendered access and capability shape preferred learning choices, disciplinary participation, and subsequent professional trajectories within design education.","Answer",{"name":65,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":66},"How are “hard” and “soft” design domains defined in the paper?",{"text":67,"@type":63},"“Hard” design is associated with industrial streams such as product and automobile design, while “soft” design aligns with communication streams such as graphic and service design and is perceived as less technically demanding.",{"name":69,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":70},"What evidence does the study use to support its thesis?",{"text":71,"@type":63},"It analyzes five years of admissions data from a design department at a public university in an Indian Tier 2 town, then triangulates findings using semi-structured interviews with students and alumni.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":74,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":76,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":78,"site_id":7},600149,1793008309,{"code":4,"msg":81,"data":82},"success",[83,87,91,95,100,105,110,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":84,"show_sort_weight":85,"slug":86},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":88,"show_sort_weight":89,"slug":90},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":92,"show_sort_weight":93,"slug":94},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":96,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":97,"show_sort_weight":98,"slug":99},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":101,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":106,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":111,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},8,30,"research-report",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":96,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":81,"data":131},{"doc_id":78,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":111,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":26,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":144,"read_time":108},962090893153,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_9964176cb1d06d4a9deccf72a44ae3dc","Gendered Pathways in Design Education: Findings from a Public University in India  \nDhriti Dhaundiyal, Doon University, India Shruti Dhaundiyal, Cambridge University, UK  \nAbstract  \nThe substantive aims of education include equitable learning, which stands for equitable gender access to preferred learning and choice within. These substantive aims can be furthered by pursuing certified vocational courses that equalize the presence of males and females in the job market through competitive skill sets. Design education in India was imagined as a composite field encompassing both technical studies and social sciences, and it was concentrated in metropolitan cities and technical institutions. It has now slowly spread to newer cities and more disciplinarily diverse institutions. Our research posits that the current unstructured growth of design education leads to a lack of emphasis on substantive outcomes. Rather, there is a focus on education for the sake of acquiring a certified competitive skill. We further analyze the distinction that has emerged between 'industrial' and 'communication'domains within design. This distinction is visible in the twinning of industrial design with engineering and architecture, while communication design is seen closer to fine arts and aesthetics as a stream not requiring technical expertise. This perception has precipitated a trend of gendered pathways in design education. This study used an exploratory approach to analyze five years of admissions data from the design department of a public university in a Tier 2 town in India, followed by semi-structured interviews with students and alumni. We found evidence to support the thesis of gendered pathways, attributed to factors like conventions of society, perceived safety, learning styles, curricular expenditure, and course briefs.  \nKey Words  \ndesign domains, hard and soft design, technical education, design education, gendered domains  \nIntroduction  \nThe last two decades have witnessed a steep growth in the number of design education institutions across big and small cities in India, with the current number estimated at 1000+ . Design education in India has been twinned with technical education since its advent in the 1950s. Evidence suggests that design and technology education have been one of the most gendered disciplines in advanced economies (Harding, 1992; White, 1995; Findeli, 2001) . Developing economies like India are being seen to follow similar growth trajectories and similar persistence of inequalities (Chu et al., 2015; Parmar and Modi, 2017) .  \nWithin design education, industrial design and communication design have emerged as the two dominant disciplinary subsets. This duality has emerged, perpetuating a 'hard' and 'soft' design dichotomy which is visible in the categorization of the two subsets as 'soft' design, encompassing communication design streams like graphic and service design, and 'hard' design,  \npertaining to industrial streams like product and automobile design (Clegg & Mayfield, 1999; Findeli, 2001) . Existing research in the G-20 economies observes that women are underrepresented in what they refer to as 'hard' design areas such as product and furniture design and over-represented in 'soft' design areas such as fashion, jewelry, graphic and service design. They identify this polarity as a platitudinous correlation of females with the body and decoration, and males with technology and shaping (Clegg et al., 1999) . There is also a distinct difference in the terminology used for learning outcomes in the case of these areas; 'hard'areas use more technical and systemic terms while 'soft' areas use more artistic and usercentered terms.  \nOur study was conducted in a public university to uncover the gendered pathways in design education in India. We looked at student enrollment data like socio-economic background, discipline choice and placements to determine trends in the design department during the student's four-year a","cbCairYjl5fj0eIN","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCairYjl5fj0eIN","pdf",322152,16,"English","# Abstract\n# Introduction\n## Growth and gendered disciplines in India\n## Hard vs soft design dichotomy\n## Study aims and empowerment framework\n# Method and evidence base","[{\"question\":\"What does the study consider “gendered pathways” in design education?\",\"answer\":\"It refers to how gendered access and capability shape preferred learning choices, disciplinary participation, and subsequent professional trajectories within design education.\"},{\"question\":\"How are “hard” and “soft” design domains defined in the paper?\",\"answer\":\"“Hard” design is associated with industrial streams such as product and automobile design, while “soft” design aligns with communication streams such as graphic and service design and is perceived as less technically demanding.\"},{\"question\":\"What evidence does the study use to support its thesis?\",\"answer\":\"It analyzes five years of admissions data from a design department at a public university in an Indian Tier 2 town, then triangulates findings using semi-structured interviews with students and alumni.\"}]","Gendered Pathways in Design Education - Findings from a Public University in India | PDF",1792090127]