Diversity in Interior Design Survey Results

In 2020, the BIID launched the UK interior design industry’s first ever Diversity In Interior Design Survey. Historically there has been very little evidence on the demographic make-up of the UK’s interior designers, design practices and students so we are excited to publish the results of the survey.

It was completed by 363 designers of which 53% are members of the BIID. In order to enable respondents to speak frankly about their experiences and protect privacy, the survey was entirely anonymous. This does mean that we were unable to verify the identity of respondents. We must also emphasise that given that this survey was entirely voluntary and based on a small self-selecting sample size, it cannot necessarily be used to extrapolate for the entire UK interior design profession.

The report contains many interesting results and comments but we have chosen some key questions and answers to highlight here. The full report can be downloaded at the bottom of the page.

Q2 What best describes your current role?

Of those who stated their current position is head of a studio or a senior level position the ethnicity breakdown is as follows:

Note: Due to numbers we have grouped ethnicities in umbrella terms in order to make it easier to identify trends. Full details can be found in the report.

The answers to this show that 78% of those who are in senior roles are white, while Q11 shows that 68% of those completing the survey are white. This suggests those in senior positions are not representative of those in the professions. 

Q8 Gender. How would you describe your gender?

Q11 What option best describes your background or ethnic group? Ethnic origin is not about nationality, place of birth or citizenship. It is about the group to which you perceive you belong. The ethnic origin categories below are based on the Census 2011 categories and recommended by the Commission for Racial Equality.

Q16 Socio-economic background. Do you consider yourself to be from a disadvantaged socio-economic background?

Q18 I feel my race/ethnicity has created barriers to progression in interior design

Of those saying they Agree/Strongly Agree that race has created barriers to their career progression the ethnic breakdown was as follows:

Q20 I have been the victim of discrimination in my profession and/or place of work. If ‘yes’ please tick the type of discrimination. If ‘no’ please tick ‘No’

For those who state they have been discriminated in their profession of place of work because of gender, the breakdown of their gender is as follows:

For those who state they have been discriminated in their profession of place of work because of race/ethnicity, the breakdown of their race/ethnicity is as follows:

For those who state they have been discriminated in their profession of place of work because of age, the breakdown of their age is as follows: 

NEXT STEPS

This research is one part of the picture that will help inform the work of our new BIID Diversity and Inclusion Committee . The committee are reviewing all of our recently published diversity research and using it to help them when recommending next steps as part of the BIID’s longer term diversity and inclusuion strategy. 

Download the Full Report.

Read more of our research and analysis in our Diversity Analysis of Interior Design Students and in our Graduate Outcomes Analysis.