Introduction

A Leadership Discrepancy
Despite Big Numbers

It’s no secret that the majority of the design field in the United States is comprised of female designers. As a 6th year graduate student at Arizona State University, it has always been clear that female students outnumber male students by a significant margin. After all, in my graduating class of ten students, there is only one male designer. However, within the last decade, the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) researchers have begun tracking data that suggests that there is a substantial gap between the number of women in the field compared to the number of women in design leadership positions.

After an in depth analyzation of the historical context of gender discrimination, the issues that are causing leadership imbalance, and recent surveys of current female designers within the local and national design community, methods for addressing the leadership imbalance through visual communication design will be brought to light.

My classmates and professor (far left) during a studio review in 2018. 9 out of 10 students in my class were female.