Karen Korellis Reuther on how design excludes women
In her recent insights, Karen Korellis Reuther, a faculty member at Harvard University's Graduate School of Design and founder of Inclusion by Design, highlights significant gender disparities in design. Notably, female firefighters face a fourfold increase in injury rates compared to their male peers, while women are 73% more likely to be injured in car accidents. Historical models, such as Adolphe Quetelet's 1830s framework and Henry Dreyfuss's 1960 work, have predominantly utilized male data. Furthermore, the reluctance of the US auto industry to adopt biofidelic crash-test dummies reflects ongoing challenges in inclusive design. Reuther's book, 'Man-made,' will be released in July 2026.
Key facts
- Female firefighters have a four-times-greater injury rate than male counterparts.
- Adolphe Quetelet's 1830s 'normal' model used only male measurements.
- Henry Dreyfuss's 'The Measure of Man' (1960) based data on young white males.
- Women are 73% more likely to be injured in car accidents than men.
- The THOR-5F crash-test dummy is based on a small woman's body.
- Karen Korellis Reuther teaches at Harvard GSD and founded Inclusion by Design.
- Reuther's book 'Man-made' was published in July 2026.
- The US auto industry is reluctant to adopt biofidelic crash-test dummies.
Entities
Artists
- Karen Korellis Reuther
Institutions
- Dezeen
- Harvard University's Graduate School of Design
- Harvard Grid
- Humanetics
- United States Air Force
- Reebok
- Nike
Locations
- Boston
- Massachusetts
- United States
Sources
- Dezeen —