ng: Reports on Leading Edge Engineering from the 1996 NAE Symposium on Frontiers of Enginee http://www.nap.edu/catalog/5576.html Designing Vehicles in Changing Times CONNIE L, GUTOWSKI Ford Motor Company Dearborn, Michigan The primary commercial change in society of the last decade is the im- pact women have had in the marketplace. There are 56 million women em- ployed in America today, representing 45 percent of the total work force, and three-fourths of all women between the ages of 35 and 44 hold jobs outside the home. Even more important, women now own nearly 8 million companie in America-a number that has escalated an astounding 78 percent from just 10 years ago. 2. This coalition of working women has become increasingly independent both financially and intellectually. Women earned more than one trillion llars in 1995. a fivefold increase from 1975. Increased household income rer the last two decades is due almost exclusively to the number of married women working outside of the home. what do women do with this new- often are the primary decision makers in the purchase process-whether mey found wealth? Not only do women influence consumer purchases, but they purchase is an automobile, real estate, soft goods, hardware, or health care Industry must refine its perspective of the female customer. Since men and women obviously are different physically, emotionally, and socially, strat egies for product engineering cannot be gender neutral. Designers cannot construct a single model, and engineers cannot design to a single standard and then expect that their results will best serve all consumers. The basic differ ences between men and women must affect design in order for the end result to be practical, efficient, effective, and beautiful-all of the attributes for which we engineers strive. 3 Copyright National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved3 The primary commercial change in society of the last decade is the im￾pact women have had in the marketplace. There are 56 million women em￾ployed in America today, representing 45 percent of the total work force, and three-fourths of all women between the ages of 35 and 44 hold jobs outside the home. Even more important, women now own nearly 8 million companies in America—a number that has escalated an astounding 78 percent from just 10 years ago. This coalition of working women has become increasingly independent both financially and intellectually. Women earned more than one trillion dollars in 1995, a fivefold increase from 1975. Increased household income over the last two decades is due almost exclusively to the number of married women working outside of the home. What do women do with this new￾found wealth? Not only do women influence consumer purchases, but they often are the primary decision makers in the purchase process—whether that purchase is an automobile, real estate, soft goods, hardware, or health care. Industry must refine its perspective of the female customer. Since men and women obviously are different physically, emotionally, and socially, strat￾egies for product engineering cannot be gender neutral. Designers cannot construct a single model, and engineers cannot design to a single standard and then expect that their results will best serve all consumers. The basic differ￾ences between men and women must affect design in order for the end result to be practical, efficient, effective, and beautiful—all of the attributes for which we engineers strive. Designing Vehicles in Changing Times CONNIE L. GUTOWSKI Ford Motor Company Dearborn, Michigan Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Frontiers of Engineering: Reports on Leading Edge Engineering from the 1996 NAE Symposium on Frontiers of Engineering http://www.nap.edu/catalog/5576.html