D21-32 Concept Note

Our idea is combatting the issue of sexism in STEM subjects. Being females going into this industry we have all experienced first-hand the demotivating discrimination that occurs day to day in our field. We aim to target the existing issue of products often being tailored towards the male demographic. This often increases the risk of injury to females when the products in question are in place to ensure safety. Our idea is to enforce legislation to ensure every product is designed and tested to suit all consumer body types.

Gender bias stems from a young age and we believe this effects their future careers paths. Although all children are seen to not show gender bias until the age of 5, the toys and tv shows they are exposed to begin to implant these ideas of discrimination. Where girls’ toys are pink and catered towards the stereotypical female roles such as working in the kitchen or being a teacher. The boys’ toys are more inclined to be associated with engineering, such as tool kits and race cars.

This product design bias continues into the workplace where mainstream PPE is designed for the generic male physique, which is often uncomfortable or potentially dangerous for the female physique. Our solution to this issue is to enforce a legislation that requires new products to be tested on all body types. The data should be collected, analysed and considered for every individual set of results.