Why is interior design dominated by Women and Architecture dominated by men?

Question

I'm in the field and I can honestly say that it's not related to a lack of opportunity. Our interior design department has 18 Women and no men; and our Architecture department has about 80 men and about 10 Women. Clearly Women are drawn to interior design and Men are drawn to Architecture.

Why?

FYI: Interior Design is a professional degree. To become a designer you must have a 4 year degree, work under a licensed ID or Architect and pass a licensing exam.

To be a decorator, you have to create some business cards with the words 'Interior Decorator' pribted next to your name.

Designers can do things that decorators cannot by law do, like move walls or doors.

Of course, decorating is also dominated by women too, and of course gay men. Can't forget them. I wonder if decorating is actually dominated by gay men, and design by women. I honestly know of no gay Architects and designers, but I do know that many choose those professions too. Well, that is a different question.

Answer 1

Women, in general, care more about the living environment, while men, in general, like to build things.

Answer 2

Grad students--as you would be if you started working on a Master's degree--often have work opportunities within the university--assisting professors, etc. These jobs often pay fairly well and allow you to continue your education without an enormous debt. This would not be true if you started in on another Bachelor's degree. Also a Master's would bolster your resume far more than a second BA. It's definitely worth going to the university in person to investigate two things: 1. Can you parlay your original BA into a Master's program that will get you exactly where you want to be: designing sets? A degree in Interior Architecture may not be the only way to get there. 2. Whether you can obtain any additional credit for work you've been doing since college. Colleges often give credit for life experiences. Smaller private colleges, while more expensive, often have better funding for grants etc and can find various ways to assist you to continue on, if the motivation is there. Finally, don't start thinking for even a second about being intimidated in a predominantly male industry--or you certainly will be. Thoughts have a bad habit of becoming reality. You are every bit as good as any of them--maybe better. In fact, you have one thing going for you: as a woman in that industry, you are interesting and even unique. Should be easy for you to get lots of publicity when you start your own set design firm. Go to it!

Answer 3

Justin And Colin Interior Designers

Answer 4

That's really true. My husband is in architectural lighting design, and although there are lots of women in his firm, they are mostly from a design background - he has an engineering background. Why is this? I'm not sure, but I do know that it's helpful to him that the ladies tend to have a different skill set than him, so he likes to have a good mix of "artsy" types and "engineer" types on any project. (he's a project manager). Why is this? Well, I'll tell you what - I tried to learn AutoCad and was totally lost. I have zero - ZERO spatial skills. But show me a few renderings, and I can say intuitively which one looks "nicer". I think men and women complement each other nicely in that way.

Also, I think men can be more detail oriented, and women sometimes can't help but look at the big picture. He says that the ladies he works with have great ideas, but lots of little technical flaws that he has to fix in their designs.

Answer 5

Wow, what a disappointment that there are only 10 women to 80 men in your architectural department! When I went to college in the early 60's I was not allowed to sign up for classes geared towards a career in that field because, I was told, it was only open to men. No matter what I did, who I saw, I couldn't get approval for the architectural design program. Your questions makes me wonder if women really ARE attracted to interior design more than men, or if the 'good old boy' system is still at work only in less obvious ways than back in the 60's. Interesting!

Answer 6

Always wondered that. The only way I can describe it or guess at a solution is put some facts that we all know behind it.

Women are more about emotion and emotion has somewhat to do with taste in design. Ask a man how the color green makes him feel and you might get the answer "Blue and yellow". Ask a women and she might say "jealous".

Men are usually more about numbers and facts. Numbers are directly involved in architecture.

Answer 7

That's one example to clear cut division of work and labor..Traditionally also,women prefer indoor and men the outdoor jobs.Well,on the flip side,interior decoration also requires artistic bend of mind and some back ground of house keeping which women have in plenty.I don't think that any deliberate attempt has gone in to such a division of labor but seems to have come about based on NATURAL TRAITS.

Answer 8

Oh no, that is so not true. Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, Oliver Heath, Gordon Whistance and Graham Wynne from Changing Rooms are wonderful designers, as well as Justin Ryan and Colin McAllister from Trading Up. There is also Michael Jewitt and John Cregg. I probably missed some very important American Interior designers.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/homes/design/design_inspiration/

Answer 9

Interior Design is dominated by gay men.

Answer 10

Well, one reason not yet mentioned here ( no surprise!! ) is that color sense in interior decorating would favor women ( or, gay men) Being able to rotate objects in space better on average, would favor men.

Answer 11

Completely random iffy answer alert! Caution!

Well it's obvious really! Women's sexual organs are internal, men's are external, hence women's interest in the inside of buildings, and men's in outer surfaces and structures...

What a load of tosh. I should be lined up against a wall and shot for even thinking such a thing :D