With design and engineering education being conceived around the same time in post-independent India, design education lags behind in growth when compared to engineering education in India today. Research has shown that engineering education received support from government and industry in the initial years due to which it expanded exponentially. Design, however, still does not find a place in school education system and social system. This creates a gap in education for those who wish to pursue design as a profession. Therefore, using a sample size of 200 profiles of Indian design professionals from professional social networking Web sites, this study aims to investigate if there exists a mismatch of education to become a design professional in India. The nature of this study is not conclusive, but to open scope for discussion and further research in the direction of strengthening design education in India. © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd 2019.