Auditing design justice: The impact of social movements on design pedagogy at a technology institution

• Published in: Design studies 2023-05, Vol.86, p.101183, Article 101183
• Main Authors: Das, Madhurima, Ostrowski, Anastasia K., Ben-David, Shelly, Roeder, Gillian J., Kimura, Kimberley, D'Ignazio, Catherine, Breazeal, Cynthia, Verma, Aditi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: design education; design justice; engineering design; inclusive design; research methods
• ISSN: 0142-694X; 1872-6909
• DOI: 10.1016/j.destud.2023.101183

Engineering aims to solve consequential, real-world problems. To be effective problem-solvers in societal contexts, engineers and designers must be trained to conceptualize and operationalize ethics, equity, and justice in their practice. Our work develops a methodology – based on the Design Justice framework – for ethics, equity, and justice audits of design pedagogy. We apply this methodology to audit design and design critique courses at a technology institution – the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Through this audit we identify exemplar courses as well as ways in which courses fail to engage with ethics, equity, and justice. This audit, the largest of its kind, is a proof of concept of how the audit methodology can be applied to design education and practice. •We develop a methodology for ethics, equity, and justice audits of design pedagogy.•We extend the Design Justice Framework to analyze syllabi of design courses.•Most courses had no significant changes in inclusion of these topics from 2019 to 2020.•Courses in engineering engage with these topics far less than non-engineering courses.•We identify exemplars and areas of growth for ethics, equity, & justice in curriculum.