ABSTRACT
In response to professional design practice, postgraduate design programs are continuing to evolve. This chapter explores design thinking pedagogy in postgraduate education programs across master’s and research higher degrees, and looks at the nexus of professional practice and how that is translated into the postgraduate education sphere. A global snapshot of design thinking coursework postgraduate degrees is then presented and discussed through the lens of two main emerging streams: innovation, strategy, and management, and design for transformation. These programs illustrate the evolving nature of design disciplines, moving away from the traditional auxiliary courses in design master’s specialisations to the more recent rise of inter- and transdisciplinary skill sets for students from both design and non-design disciplinary backgrounds. The creation of new postgraduate design degrees is discussed in detail through two expert sidebars. The first by Dr Sylvia Lui from Hong Kong Polytechnic University who discusses the International Design and Business Management (ID&BM) program. The second expert sidebar by Professor Andy Dong, Sara Fenske Bahat, and Nathan Shedroff examines the MBA in Design Strategy program at California College of the Arts. The second half of the chapter explores research higher degree design thinking pedagogy and presents the concept of the design catalyst as a higher degree response to design thinking as it connects with industry to cross the academic–industry divide. The third expert sidebar, from Dr Judy Matthews, examines a supervised cohort model for research higher degree students to discuss an underlying design thinking pedagogical approach based on a collaborative academic and industry partnership. In this chapter, we also identify and discuss how the design catalyst capabilities can enhance value for a company and bridge the gap between industry and academia, thereby creating impact and increasing the importance of the integration of design across programs in higher education.
