Contract - November 2014 - 26

All infographics by Atelier Cho Thompson, courtesy The Missing 32% Project of AIA San Francisco

industry news

Equity by Design Conference Examines Gender Gap in Architecture

Low
Pay

Long
Hours

No Opportunity,
Promotion

Lack of Role
Models

Unprofessional
Behavior, Bullying

SUPPORT

AND
ADVERTISING

> 40
35-40
YEARS OF EXPERIENCE

Architecture is a notoriously grueling profession, known for slavishly long hours and
wages that seem low relative to other professions, especially in early years out of
school. While equal numbers of men and women are inspired to study architecture,
only about 18 percent of licensed architects in the United States are women. That
leaves a 32 percent gender discrepancy between graduation and licensure in the
architecture profession.
To delve deep into the causes, the Missing 32% Project, a committee of the
AIA San Francisco, undertook a nationwide survey this year. The resulting data
informed the Equity by Design Conference, a sold-out event that drew 250 attendees
in San Francisco on October 18. Among the findings from the 2,289 responses: More
than one third of the women departing the profession did so within the first three
years. "I think it points to the disconnect between academia and the reality of
professional practice," says architect Rosa Sheng, a senior associate at Bohlin
Cywinski Jackson in San Francisco who is chair of the Missing 32% Project.
The data also suggests that women who are licensed are more likely to stay
in the field. Less surprisingly, the survey also showed that women took a significant
salary hit for going part-time or taking a break-and that the key "pinch point" for
women was when they needed to care for young children or elderly parents. Survey
results are available at themissing32percent.com.
Several conference speakers shared ideas for what the profession could do
to help the gender imbalance. Jennifer Devlin-Herbert of EHDD talked about her
company's support for flexible schedules, "flex Friday" (an 8.5-hour work day in return
for every other Friday off), and extended time off after crunch periods. Frank Pitts of
Architecture+ described a firm culture in which every person has a supporting role
on other teams and hours were balanced out firm-wide to share the load. And Aidan
Hughes of engineering firm Arup talked about bias in hiring and promotion. "We
encourage everyone to think about their biases," Hughes said. "It can be as simple
as recognizing that we all have them."
On the "lean in" side of the equation, the survey found that a large majority
of both women and men architects were leaving money on the table by failing to
negotiate compensation. One of the conference's most popular sessions was a
workshop in collaborative negotiation.
Keynote speaker Emily Grandstaff-Rice, an associate at Cambridge Seven
Associates and the current president of the Boston Society of Architects, delivered an
inspiring message. "Use your own voice to talk about why architecture matters," she
said. "We don't have to go through Frank Lloyd Wright, Frank Gehry, or Howard Roark
[the fictional architect in The Fountainhead]. We change people's lives." -Lydia Lee

30-35
25-30
20-25
15-20
10-15
7-10
5-7
3-5
<3

TRAINING
LIBRARY

AND
DEVELOPMENT

contractdesign.com

november 2014

http://www.themissing32percent.com http://www.contractdesign.com

Contract - November 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Contract - November 2014