Time for action to stop ‘pitiful job prospects’

The article Design graduates face pitiful job prospects (DW 8 November), comes as no surprise to some of us involved in design education. We have been warning of these problems for the past few years.

As higher education has expanded, design educators have typically responded by offering more of the same. Design courses which are tightly configured, highly focused and encourage people to shun anything which they consider “irrelevant” do not equip people with the “life skills” to which the rector of the Royal College of Art refers. The result is that design courses have admitted more students than are suitable and graduated them with unreal expectations of what their future career will be. This is morally and ethically indefensible.

What can be done? Here are some proposals. Design graduates need to be equipped to take their discipline forward in a technologically demanding, professionally orientated world of commerce and industry. They need to be able to make a full contribution to multi-disciplinary, multi-talented teams, to have a real grasp of strategic aspects of design (not just design projects) and be able to translate design activity into improved organisational performance. To be serious about these issues involves a fundamental review of curriculum, teaching, learning and assessment.

There are two questions to be faced. What is really meant by excellence in design education? Surely there are key individuals and organisations who could lead such a debate, controversial though it might be? The end result will be that those courses which are not meeting student and employer needs should cease to be offered. It is as brutal as that.

Additionally, professional bodies need to be far more proactive and rigorous on setting standards for continuing professional education with a view to supporting and improving standards and practice. In the profession as a whole this would provide a much better support network for young professionals and would disqualify those who do not meet standards.

No other profession would tolerate the current situation of over-supply of inappropriately qualified graduates. Are there any people and organisations who are prepared to act?

Wendy Powell

Head of Department of Design Management

De Montfort University

Leicester LE1 9HB