As an architect licensed in Texas, and a member of the American Institute of Architects, I must take continuing education classes each year. Recently, I logged 7 1/2 hours of this year’s requirement at a seminar on multi-family housing.
I spent a day in a downtown office building boardroom with about 100 other architects. In between sessions on Washington condo law (glad I brought my coffee), working with local jurisdictions’ design review boards (wished for more coffee), the impact of the new building code on high-rise residential towers, and the differences - pro and con - between infill multi-family housing in Portland’s and Seattle’s downtowns (finally, presenters who told good jokes!), I had time to observe the folks who were attending the seminar.
The men in the room wore more stylish clothing and nicer shoes than you’d see in a random sampling of men on the street. A couple of the younger renegades sported black t-shirts, but we’re talking $75 silk-blend tees from Nordstrom’s, not your black Hanes Beefy-T. Their interesting assortment of facial hair was, without exception, well groomed. They had really good haircuts. They had that look, the male architect look. I can’t tell you all of what it is, but I grew up around it, and I know it when I see it. Paul’s hung out with me (and my architect father) long enough that he can spot it, too. Interestingly, that ‘architect look’ is something that women architects don’t have. Perhaps that’s because we women have a wider variety of fashion options to begin with, or perhaps it’s because there are so few of us.
Of the 100 or so architects in the room, I counted nine women. (Fewer than that - perhaps five or six - were people of color.) The age range of the attendees was mid/late-30’s to mid-60’s. Other AIA continuing ed. classes that I’ve attended have had higher proportions of women and people of color, many of whom have been younger. Why was this seminar’s attendance different? Many CE seminars address practical topics that young practicioners need to learn, and for which their employers are willing to pay: accessiblity, waterproofing, and the like. This seminar seemed to be aimed at those higher up the architecture firm food chain, the managers and principals. (Since these folks are licensed, and AIA members, they’re also required to get those continuing ed. hours.) Sadly, the group of architects at the seminar was an almost perfect representation of the demographics of my profession at this level.
A 2004 white paper on diversity from a group of young architectural professionals provides this information:
The data tell the story. In architecture schools across the country, 40–50 percent of the graduates are female. In the profession, women make up 33 percent of associate AIA members, only 11 percent of the AIA licensed membership, and just 20 percent of all registered architects. People of color comprise 19 percent of associate AIA members, only 6 percent of the AIA licensed members, and a mere 11 percent of all registered architects.
(A note of explanation: While the AIA is the professional organization for architects, one may be a registered/licensed architect without joining the AIA. Licensed architects may become AIA members; associate AIA membership is available to those working in architecture who are not yet licensed.)
But I don’t know that these data tell the whole story. Women have been graduating at these rates, or higher, since I graduated from architecture school over 15 years ago. Given graduation rates, the percentage of registered architects who are women should be higher than it is. Somewhere along the road from school to licensure, many women are choosing a different path.
Tags: 2 Comments
2 responses so far ↓
Is there any chance that the attrition rate from school to licensure is due to women opting out temporarily or permanently to raise families? I recall being at a crossroads after attaining my bachelor’s degree — studying architecture (like many of the men in one line of my family) or getting my credentials to teach secondary art? I chose the latter for a variety of reasons, one of which was its combatibility to family life (now I’m doing neither, and painting full time).
A little off topic, but this post has me wondering: do you think men and women architects design differently? (Although it doesn’t address the gap between school and licensure, maybe they view housing priorities a little differently — hence they pursue different continuing education paths?)