Inequity and Gender Violence in the Labor Market: Experiences of Industrial Designers from Mexico

Abstract

This article includes an analysis with a gender perspective on some particularities of the professional practice of female industrial designers in the Estado de México, Mexico, taking into account the changes in their social, personal, family and professional life in the context of the covid-19 pandemic. For this purpose, eight focus groups were carried out with women from four specific fields of design: researchers, teachers, designers working in the private sector and in public service. One of the most important results of the research is the labor violence suffered by women industrial designers, who have suffered such violence practically since the beginning of the profession in México, since it has been defined as a "profession for men". And although enrollment in the different universities is now very balanced between women and men, the work of women designers in the labor field is still invisible. The guidelines and strategies proposed to contribute to the resolution of this problem range from empowerment through self-affirmation to the development of networks of sisterhood and collaboration across the various fields of work.