Decolonizing interior design education

According to McKinsey & Company, companies in the top quartile for gender or racial and ethnic diversity are more likely to have financial returns above their national industry medians, building a competitive advantage in an increasingly diverse marketplace (Hunt, Layton, & Prince, 2015). Efforts to increase diversity are now embedded in many higher institutions’ missions and initiatives, including programs of interior design. Such efforts are grounded in devising ways to increase the perspectives and experiences represented across gender, race, ethnicity, religion, economic background, geographical origin, sexuality, age, and ability. Infusing cultural aspects of space in interior design curricula, the area of my work, is also endorsed by CIDA standards (Council for Interior Design Accreditation), such as Standard 4f (2020, p.16), which talks about “developing multi-cultural awareness.”