Abstract
Over time, the job market has become more complex and demands a wider range of skills from graduates. Research shows that stakeholders have varying expectations for entry-level interior designers in terms of skills, competencies, and attributes. These expectations have evolved due to significant changes in science, technology, and design education, highlighting the need to update interior design programs to ensure they equip students with relevant skills and industry connections. While several studies have reviewed programs globally, few have focused on the Gulf region. Therefore, this study evaluates an interior design program at a private school in Saudi Arabia and identifies necessary adjustments based on its findings. This study adopted a qualitative approach and used two strategies to evaluate the current interior design program. The first strategy was a focus group interview with 90 participants—students, faculty, and professionals—divided into four specialty-based groups. The second strategy was benchmarking, in which seven international and two national interior design programs were being reviewed and compared with the current program. The result showed positive feedback when mentioning students’ readiness for the job market as they excel in different soft and hard skills. The training period was also considered promising as the school allows students to spend seven months experiencing the market and working on complete projects. However, the program should pay greater attention to overcoming the knowledge overlapping and focus more on national considerations, such as Vision 2030 and Saudi building codes, as well as international considerations, such as CIDA, SDGs, and LEED.