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International Women's Day

Extracts from our studio wide round table on IWD

For International Women's Day we held a global round table discussion. We took stock of what’s happening in our industry for women in the workplace, and reflected on where we sit at YS.

77% of the design industry workforce in the UK identify as male* 

- We're proud that at YS 59% of the YS global team are female.

17% of women hold design leadership roles**

- At YS 53% of Senior Roles (Design Director equivalent or senior) are held by women, including Creative Director, Managing Director and Digital Experience Director positions.

Women apply for 20% fewer jobs than men***

- At YS we use a gender bias decoder to detect any unintentional gender bias in our job-wording. Our job ads are ranked strongly feminine - ensuring universal appeal.

You're 5 times more likely to be promoted with a mentor, yet 63% of women have never been formally mentored****

- Many of our team are actively involved in mentorship programmes such as Kerning The Gap, and outreach programmes to champion change from within.

85% of women leave the UK workforce within 3 years of having a child*****

- We offer hybrid working as standard, part-time roles and have overhauled our family policy; we’re passionate about supporting our team to have fulsome careers alongside parenthood.

What do you think our industry needs to change in order to reach a point of gender equity?  We'd love to hear your thoughts.

It seems appropriate to highlight typefaces designed by female creative talent too. Typesets and their designers are credited below:

Typeset in ALT MariaClara by Alli Cunanan
Typeset in Iki Mono by Beatrice D'Agostino
Typeset in Gallique by Emma Marichal

*     Design Council - Design Economy People, Places and Economic Value 2022
**   Design Council, The Design Economy 2018
***  LinkedIn Gender Insights Report
****   The Mentor Method / Pew Research Centre
*****  That Works For Me - Careers After Babies