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

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.