A systematic review of the relations between industrial design education and industry in Turkey through SWOT analysis

Abstract

This study aims to evaluate the strong and weak aspects of industrial product design (IPD) and industrial design (ID) education in Turkey in the context of their relations with Turkish industry. This study was conducted in four major phases. The study started with a SWOT analysis of the economy in Turkey and continued with an analysis of ID education using data on undergraduate and graduate education programmes, the number of faculty members, the number of graduates and the number of registered students. After identifying the profile of the industrial designer from the perspective of industry through online job advertisements, the correlation between the expectations of industry and the philosophy of ID and IPD education programmes in Turkey was analysed. The findings demonstrate that Turkey is behind other countries in terms of intellectual property rights, new products development and investment in new fields of business. Moreover, the share of resources allocated for research and development is insufficient. The education model of IPD and ID graduate programmes is inconsistent with the industry expectations. The expectations of the industry and the educational emphases of university programmes are extremely incompatible. The findings of this study will help to develop cooperation between industry and education programmes and will thus lead to better employment opportunities for graduates of IPD and ID programmes.