How Do We Create Change?

Many attribute the lack of female representation in the graphic design world to the traditional role of child caretaker and mother. However, employers need to accommodate women who want a family and a career. While there is a slow movement towards flexible hours and maternity leave (for men too), it has yet to take a significant impact. Talented women will not want to make accept positions not offering maternity leave. The problem that has occurred in the graphic design industry doesn’t seem to be a lack of women; they are there, it’s more of an issue of a lack of recognition and women not being in top end jobs. These are two very separate issues, which shall be tackled individually.

A lack of confidence and ego are probably among the reasons so few of the rock stars of the design world are women. That's definitely not because female designers aren't doing great work – but when it comes to self-promotion, it often seems to be the case that women simply aren't as noisy about it as men.

That is, of course, a generalization, but over the years it has been observed that it's in most women's nature to share success rather than fight for credit. 

In order to feel empowered and they can do something impactful, women need to see that they can do this and that others in the industry have made it far. These women in these projects have been successful in creating activist art and just artistic pieces purely with the intentions of showing their creative ideas to the world. Women such as Annar Karis, Jessica Walsh, and more have all been successful. However, we don’t hear of their names as much as we hear about male artists. 

There are no men holding women back, they have to have the courage to want to stand up and talk at conferences, to have the courage to publish design books and be smart enough to create a great career so if we ever want a family we are prepared for it. On the other side of that argument, design agencies have to learn to run their design studios creatively, to not see women creatives as someone who is just going to disappear on maternity leave, but that through mediums like Twitter, email, blogs and Facebook, mothers can be kept in the loop as to what is happening in the studio so when they come back they are knowledgeable and full of creative energy. Creative mothers definitely do have the ability to co-ordinate family life and professional life, if given the chance.