CLEAR design lab founder Kat Ely spoke with SolidWorks about women in design and engineering and what goes into building great products:
Future for Women in the Industry: “There aren’t any roadblocks in women applying for product design jobs. But, there does seem to be fewer women than men actually in these roles. There are plenty of female graduates but despite that, most industrial design firms are majority male. I’m not sure at what point that happens, maybe its bias in the hiring process or maybe they don’t feel welcome on certain teams. We do see a lot of very qualified female applicants so I know pipeline is not an issue. Hopefully the gender balance is changing to be more reflective of the world we all live in.”
Advice for Women Going Into the Product Design Field: “Apply for jobs you aren’t qualified for because men do it all the time.I was working for probably 8 years before I realized men do that and a lot of women don’t. I would only apply for positions where I thought I was 100% qualified. If the job position said 3-5 years’ experience and I only had 2 years I would think, ‘Oh, I’m not the right fit’ or ‘Oh, I shouldn’t apply to that.’ But, a lot of men will do that and they will get those opportunities because they stretched for it. I always tell women that there is no harm in applying for things, so apply for everything you can, even things you aren’t qualified for. It can’t happen if you don’t get the opportunity, but eventually you will.”
Read the full interview here