This paper discusses to what extent the productivity and creativity of a design meeting can be attributed to meeting structure and various, related, aspects of social interaction including gender, and participants’ sense of belonging. This paper examines the literature on meeting structure, language, gender and sense of belonging and analyses them for overlaps and potential areas of future research. Following a discussion, this paper then considers ‘implications for design’ presenting three possible areas of further research and development; how can meeting structure be designed for equal opportunity, how can a sense of belonging be created in design meetings and what can be done to encourage empathy in design?