AIArchitect

I definitely have the same opinion with you about this topic. Nice article. Already bookmarked for future purposes.

my stupid GIRLFRIEND CHEATED on me so here she is JessicaPix.info

my stupid GIRLFRIEND CHEATED on me so here she is JessicaPix.info

my stupid GIRLFRIEND CHEATED on me so here she is JessicaPix.info

Pretty impressive post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I have really enjoyed reading your opinions. Any way I'll be coming back and I hope you post again soon.

I really appreciate this article and the opportunity to comment. I have read quite a few articles on the subject however the statistics are not readily available for the architectural profession. There are tons of studies done on other business fields so it is great to hear from other women architects.
I am a registered architect and have been working for twelve years. The first firms I worked for, I was the only woman architect. I learned a lot about how to ask for what you need and to make sure you are seen by volunteering, mentoring or just presenting a design topic at a lunch presentation. I am still looking for a woman architect as a mentor since there are only two in my current office who have more than 15 years of experience but I do take advantage of what I can learn from the men.
Regarding licensure, it was not an option for me. My husband agreed to my demand to get a license before children. Needless to say, I was the only licensed woman architect in my office. It has served me well in getting noticed and put on good projects.

I will tell you why there are few women in architecture-

BECAUSE THEY DON'T HIRE THEM. Yes! amazing revelation- even the ones that have grown up on construction sites, have engineering degrees, architecture degrees and everything in between- DONT GET HIRED!

You try being a very educated unemployed person for a long time and see how quickly you will change professions too.

same thing in engineering-

Thank you for a great post

I work in an architecture department responsible for army projects, and the sexism and constant battling for equality has soured me on the profession. I graduated top of my class and spent the next 4 years being completely invisible, receiving no projects, and being assigned as an 'assistant' to a stream of males with less experience than me. Everytime I spoke up about the blatant favoritism, I was sent on 'cross training' to admin positions. With only 1 exam left, I have decided to leave architecture and pursue other avenues. It's too exhausting to come home every evening completely bitter about wasting my youth.

I think that a more equal experience or a female mentor would have made a significant difference in my retention in architecture, but I also think it will be a very long time before this profession catches up to present standards of equality and in the meantime that's a battle not a lot of women want to be burdened with.

Why do Women Architects Disappear?
Perhaps women architects disappear or become invisible because a relatively few of them are offered the opportunity to attain a voice. From my experience the young male interns are nurtured, praised, and encouraged to become registered. They are offered numerous opportunities and experiences to move them forward on the path towards registration. I was told that I could not have these same opportunities until I become registered; because “well you know” it’s against professional practice tenets. When these inconsistencies are addressed with the management, they are met with a blank stare and maybe an “I don’t know what you are talking about.” Women are continually passed over for the interesting or challenging projects and they find themselves working on the periphery. Such actions limit the range of professional experience. Some women may question the value of taking the exams to become registered and drift away from professional practice.
Another point to consider is that women may not be as geographically mobile as their male counterparts. Families pick up and move when Dad is offered that great job. How often does this happen for Mom? This dynamic may prevent her from moving to a firm with a more progressive philosophy.
I have worked in the industry for thirteen years. In my experience, the women are the first to go when the economy dips. We leave in partnership with our Afro-American co-workers, and those known to be gay. I am not bitter, but I am frustrated. I am held to a path not of my choosing. I actually had a prospective employer ask me why I would ever want the job for which I was interviewing and clearly qualified, because after all it would be stressful. Needless to say I was not offered the job.
I love architecture because for me it embraces all of the disciplines I love to study – design, geometry, history, and art. I do not regret my choices. I returned to school when my youngest of four entered kindergarten. I was considered a non-traditional student. In addition to gender discrimination, there is blatant age discrimination as well. Because these forms of discrimination are insidious and for the most part impossible to fight, I have begun to pursue work on my own. This work is a privilege, personal, fun, and satisfying, although difficult to acquire in adequate amounts. When I was in school, I did not picture myself in this place. I thought I would be in control of a very satisfying career. I continue to search for my niche, certain that I have something to offer. If this search develops into the opportunity to develop my own business and work on my own, I will be fortunate. I do not wish to disappear.

I believe Mike's point about women assessing the value of being an architect (given the workload, stress, pay, etc...) is a valid one and should be pursued further. I am a young, licensed female and I can not imagine continuing on this career path, given its current pace, until retirement.

On another note, my coworkers believe every woman has an uncontrollable desire to breed, despite her career goals -- I find this incredibly frustrating. While the two are NOT mutually exclusive, I believe they are perceived to be. With that attitude, I can see why men would be favored for employment or promotion.

A final item of note: The other sexism I've personally encountered is being required to be the back-up secretary because I'm a woman (apparently men can't operate a multi-line phone?).

Whether these facts are the direct reflection of female discrimination, or a combination of this, life choices and career changes, the main question should be: What do we do about it?
For me, it's to be better ourselves.

Cash Making Opportunities - The Beginning The working life is already tough enough, but the worries of being out of work was even tougher. The unsecured working environment have prompted me to search the internet for an alternative source of extra income so that I could learn how to Make Money Work for me and be Financially Independent. I listed down a number of Free Internet Business Opportunity Ideas while researching ways how people earn money online while working-from-home.......

www.onlineuniversalwork.com

Recently I was searching the internet for current information re problems/statistics women confront in Architecture. There was a nice glossy study with charts and profiles on some of the leading firms nationally. Can't seem to find it now and am wondering if you have suggestions. Would appreciate it if your suggestions were also posted to me directly.

Women have different attitudes about work than do men. When we reach a larger number of active women practitioners within the profession and as the more liberal thinking young men mature into leadership roles, I believe we will see a shift in the business model used by service industries. Keep reaching for the license, ladies!

Relevant in general:

Don’t force additional Discrimination legislation when you are recruiting & filling architecture jobs.

Does this, affect my company? Yes...

For example, If you’re a firm of architects looking to recruit for HR, secretarial, finance or architecture jobs, you may soon need to add consulting business or legal adviser to that list. The law changed in the UK On 1 October 2006, legislation was put in place there to protect against age discrimination, and it is no longer lawful to discriminate on grounds of age. The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations of 2006 protects young and old alike. Similar legislation will be passed in the US because it is necessary.

Direct or indirect discrimination
In the UK there is a distinction in the Regulations between direct and indirect discrimination. Direct discrimination is when an individual is unfairly treated on the grounds of age. Indirect discrimination is when a blanket policy or practice disadvantages an individual because of their age. The Architecture profession currently openly engages in discrimination in the United States. This condition exists for example in architectural firms where licensed Architect’s on staff from the mid forties and over fifty are rarely kept on the job. Any disadvantage driven by age applies. This doesn’t have to be deliberate. As a potential employer you may be looking for an architect, or a trainee or recent graduate to fill an architecture job, but you can be challenged under this law if you don’t offer an interview to a mature student on the grounds that you expect to get less ‘working years for your money’. Such practices are now unlawful now in the UK and they should be unlawful in the US.
Sub-conscious prejudices

Age Discrimination is a state of mind and by introducing legislation, the government hopes to make us aware of prejudices that we may not even realize we hold. For many years it was deemed acceptable for an employer to prefer male employees because they were less likely to leave to have a family. Society then moved on, with more and more women returning to work after the birth of a child, and legal rights and financial support put in place to encourage this. Today, US architecture employer’s often give an architecture job, for example, to a lesser qualified man in preference over a more experienced man or woman. In years to come, new age discrimination legislation should reduce this practice.

Fines for non-compliance?

In the US risks of non-compliance with the Age Regulations are not considered to be serious. Where employers fail to meet requirements on age discrimination (as well as race, sex and disability discrimination), they should be substantially at risk of having to pay out considerable sums of money, although there is no upper limit to financial awards for age discrimination, the cost of litigation in the US, imposes a system of constraints, quite beyond the capacity of any working class person, this lack of access to the civil courts, empowers rampant age discrimination.

Clearly discrimination in the Architecture Profession and other professions despite some improvements since the 1964 civil rights act, remains adverse to the interests of the people of the United states and must be corrected. In recent years, enlightened employers have realized that there is an untapped market in the more experienced person and even retired person who wishes to continue working – being of retirement age, no longer means that you are over-the-hill or wish to have unlimited leisure time. The harsh reality is that too many retired persons have to work to survive, and too many of those persons were retired by age discrimination.

If a candidate for an architecture job has the required qualifications and experience, it should be unlawful to refuse their application on the grounds that they are too young or too old. If a candidate one year out of the University gets a job that an older and more experienced candidate has also applied for, and is not hired because they are older, this should be recognized as a clear violation of the law.

Failing to provide jobs to older employee because more value can be milked from the younger employee, is discrimination.

What can we do to bring a correction to the problem of age discrimination? We need new laws in the US that make every act of discrimination illegal, in many states discrimination is considered to be something that is aimed at a particular group or classification of people. In Washington State the age “classification” is all people over the age of forty and consequently by retaining some forty year olds the employer can discriminate at will under work for hire legislation against most fifty year olds without any technical violation of the law. We need new laws at the Federal and State level throughout the United States to stop all forms of unfair labor relations and discrimination. The Architecture profession is long overdue in the State of Washington, for an investigation of their discriminatory practices. A hearing by a State Human Rights Board, with the capacity to subpoena witnesses and depose them under oath, should be empowered by law at no expense to the discrimination victim.

Hello everyone,

Thanks for all of your great comments. If you are interested in being contacted in the future as part of our research please e-mail me your contact information through the link at the end of the article. We will keep any and all information private for your integrity and the integrity of our research. Thanks again!

I graduated with a MArch in 1975 and was licensed in 1978. When I was in architecture school, women students were one in ten. Even so, I was not prepared for the blatant gender discrimination I encountered in the architectural workplace. After ten years of struggles, I was ready to leave the profession for good -- only problem was there really wasn't anything else I could get excited about. So I started my own one-person firm, where I am today.

My guess for the low numbers of women continuing in the profession is the lack of opportunity, respect, recognition, advancement, low pay and long hours. I have discouraged other young women from pursuing this as a career for these reasons, while recognizing that, for those who truly love it, there may be no better choice.

I would like to know if women architect pay levels have improved over the years in relation to pay levels for equally-qualified men. In the mid 1970's, AIA did a survey which showed women were getting 60% of equivalent male salaries. AIA's response was that members should work towards bringing that number up to 75%. But why didn't they demand 100%? This is the sort of attitude that I am talking about.

Whenever I am asked why I became an architect, I answer that "I did so because I did not want to be 40 years old and say to myself, 'Why did I not become an architect?'"
I graduated with my MArch at Washington University in 1975 and passed the boards in 1981. I practiced in firms for 8 years, had our first child, and worked for myself for 7 years while our family grew to include three children. When I returned to working outside of the house, I worked for a design/build firm which allowed me to work three-10 hour days and then, the 1990 recession hit and I turned to academia. I have been a professor and coordinator of the Architectural Tech Program at Montgomery College for 19 years and loved every minute of it.
Do I miss working in an office? Yes, I miss the thrill of design, solving constructionability problems, walking on a job site, and watching a building on which I was a team player get built.
But I am the lucky one. #1 I waited to have children until after becoming registered. #2 My years at home were economic good times and residential work was in demand. #3 My husband is an architect and I often lived vicariously through his projects.
My advice to young women who dream of becoming architects? Yes, do it and find your own way. Yes, become registered ... you need the credibility as a woman even in 2009 versus 1981. Yes, join service organizations like Rotary, Lions, PTA's so that you can show what a problem solver you are ... and get your own clients.
Sign me up as a mentor! I take my responsibility as a role model for young women who want to become architects very seriously. We all need role models ... I wish I had had one.
... Remember ... what else would you want to do with your life?

I agree with most everyone, and I also concur with Terry's comments. Flat out, the profession is biased against anyone who is not a white man. I am registered with over 10 years experience, yet I continue to see the younger white men being hired at close to my rate of pay! It is quite discouraging. I thought that as a nation, we had come farther than this. In the architecture profession, obviously, and sadly, not.

Commenting on Ann's thread of not taking statictics "... I do not see the need to be so concerned with the statistics of whether we are men or women. I prefer to be an Architect, plain and simple." I believe it is incredibly important to address these statistics and issues. My own experience is directly related to being a woman. A great stumbling block was the "currency portion" of the experience. My maternity leave ( in Canada it was one year) negatively impacted my quest for registration. Had the "three year clock" been suspended for the portion of leave... I would have successfully become licenced. The birth of my second child provided an opportunity to start my own firm (after having 15 years of professional experience). But then I became faced with the decision of how to place my business on 'hold' while I for the second time logged the last remaining 960 hours before registration ( the currency requirement). A requirement which was not in place when I graduated in '94.

I believe that any time that a woman (or a man) takes for parental leave should have the effect of 'stopping the clock' as it would in other professions. The registration of Architects should come out of the dark ages.

I am 67 years old, have practiced architecture for 45 years. I have had my own firm for the past 30 years.
I love the profession more and more every year. I have been blessed with friendships with fellow students (men) which go back all those 45 years. I can't tell you how supportive those gentlemen have been throughout my career.
I spent the first 15 years working in several firms learning the ropes. That experience was invaluable when I started my own firm.
I have participated in AIA throught my career, being president of the Cleveland Chapter in 1986.

My work has been in housing, multi-family and many single family houses and additions. Currently I am working to develop condominium, accessible, sustainable housing for seniors in my local area. If I don't have enough work I volunteer with organizations, local community activities to assist in development of any current project or interest.

I think that this profession
has so much important work to do in developing a healthy environment for people, that I do not see the need to be so concerned with the statistics of whether we are men or women. I prefer to be an Architect, plain and simple.

Yes, I am a proud Architect, mother and grandmother of soon to be four of our finest creations. Architecture continues to be my life and lifeline for over forty years. Creating a good foundation and balancing a profession and family must be a priority for both men and women. No regrets. TGIF!

Anecdotal evidence is just that, but I graduated 10 yrs ago and my class was evenly split gender-wise although many of the women have chosen not to pursue architecture and/or havent gotten licensed. Maybe woman are just smarter in terms of assessing what a grind the profession can be and just consider that unappealing, period.

And for those women who do choose to pursue licensure, I understand there can be some obstacles, but the fact is that if anything your gender makes you more valuable b/c its good to have that diversity when you meet clients, etc.

What a pertinent article. I'm compelled to chime in in the hope that it might help some younger women who are trying to plan their career/family paths. Or shed some light on the reasons that women might take an alternate career path.

At 48, I'm fortunate to have found some balance of work and family. It might not be possible, though, without having a husband (also an architect) with a stable job in a larger firm.

Before having kids, I had truly believed it would be possible to "pop out" a kid or two and keep right on going with a successful career. But by the time we were expecting our second child, my views had changed.

I had managed to have one child and a career with one of California's largest architectural firms. Fifteen years ago, this company offered me a lot of flexibility: They didn't complain about my taking time out to express milk while I was nursing and I worked part time when needed. I managed my own projects and was working hard to make it to the next level.

But I also saw that those who rose through the ranks were largely the guys that played golf together. I finally realized that my Dad had been right: "Take some golf and tennis classes. It'll help your career." People like to promote those that they play with. I started to see that unless I was willing to give up more time with my son, it would take a long time for me to reach the next level, much less partner.

Another revelation came as my husband, my two-month-old son and I sat in a meeting with a client. We did a lot of side work together before children. But when the baby started crying, I was the one who had to rush him out of the meeting. When we returned, the discussion was ending and I had missed a big part of it. My resentment at having to put "my career" on the back burner, while my husband moved along as if nothing had changed, was huge. It came close to destroying what had been a very even-footed marriage. It was only after many months that I started to appreciate the wonderful opportunity I had been given. Seeing an infant grow into a real person became much more fascinating to me even than architecture. It was the ultimate building experience!

By the time we were expecting our second child, I knew that being there for my kids was more important to me than being at the top of the corporate ladder. So nearly eleven years ago I left on maternity leave and ended up starting my own company.

Running an office out of our back house has allowed me plenty of flexibility to be an involved mom. And architecture allows you to go in countless career directions. However, financial stability has not been one of the benefits. We're fortunate that my husband can maintain a stable position, with my office providing a nice place for him between jobs.

Now that my kids are ten and fifteen, I'm considering enlarging my office. But I'm in no hurry. Life right now is pretty darned nice.

any licensed grandmas out there??? the only solution is to be in control of your working hours although projects and pay are small. Ask yourself, if u can b anything else other than an architect? from the boys i learned that being an architect is a lifestyle....it's about time to make it a feminine one (75 & 79 grad + fl licensed-ncarb)

Great topic. I am a licensed architect, working mom and principal in a firm that I've been with for 20 years.

I'm proud to say that we've made much progress in providing flexible employment situations for our female employees (who are also many of our top level managers and project architects) and have had good retention in this area. I do wonder where the support for parental leave for men is though. I don't see anyones architect husband asking their employers for family leave, flex time or work from home latitude. I can only suspect that most men wouldn't even dream of being able to ask their firms for this.

I think we will see more true equality in the field when we start thinking more broadly about supporting family and work balance and remove this from being only a "womans issue".

Thank you for the article. I am extremely interested in this subject because as a woman business owner in a large firm I have tried to work with younger staff members, both men and women, to get them to understand the value of being a registered architect. Unfortunately I have not been very successful.
I received a 5 year professional degree and a Masters in Planning while working part time and supporting myself back in the ‘80s. I have been registered for close to 25 years and have had an extremely rewarding and successful career. I grew up in a large company from the bottom up and have found that being a woman has done nothing but help with my success. My clients and partners think that I bring that "Special Woman's Touch" that they don't have.
But...I have seen significant differences in the younger generation’s approach to their careers. I don’t see the willingness to compromise either their families or their free time.
For what it is worth, my opinion is that if you want it bad enough, you can make it happen. It should not be either / or; it is all about the balance you achieve. I gave up a huge part of my social life; I had a very supportive husband that was willing to pick up where I left off because of a late meeting or a business trip and the partners in my firm allowed me to work around little league and PTA meetings.
Did I miss out in my children’s lives? They would tell you no. I would say, minimally.
Did I work extremely hard to prove myself? No doubt, but then again who doesn’t?
Was it worth? Absolutely.
Thank you.

This is a great article! The blunt simple truth is that the architecture profession in my experience is simply riddled with blatant discrimination. So, a better question is; where are the women who are registered to practice, who are more than 45 years old? The age discrimination against women with experience should be investigated by congress. For that matter; what happened to all those men who are 45 or older that were there 15 years ago? Where are the people of color who graduated with you?

The profession discriminates against women, against people of color and against everyone who is more than 45 - 50 years old. That is a fact. The profession discriminates but typically keeps one woman, one man of color or one older white male or female to evade the charge of discriminating against a group and evade the intent of the discrimination laws, to stop discrimination, in a given the state. The intent of the federal government, is to stop discrimination.

The architecture profession needs to ask itself, where are the people who were architects ten years ago, and measure how many were forced out of the profession by discrimination. The numbers will be more than 50 percent of us, were forced out by discrimination.

Thank you for the research and the data. As 1 of 2 women in a class of 75 graduating with a B Arch, I am encouraged that the trend today is towards a balance of women and men in the profession.
I am now registered in two states and in my own way try to mentor, though not formally, young architects within the profession. Looking back over my career of 25+ years I agree that it is difficult to stay with a field where rewards often do not match effort. That said one of the very important things that you are doing to promote the contribution of women is the research that simply identifies and celebrates their work throughout history. Perhaps that will help reshape the History of Architecture coursework that is taught and therby assist in shifting the perception of women's contribution and opportunity in the profession of architecture. Thank you.

What is the percentage of male architecture school graduates after 1980 who became licensed vs. the number of female graduates? It would be an interesting number to find, as the statistics of women remaining in the field and becoming licensed are shown as if they are much lower than men. But are they?

When I graduated in 1983, we were in a huge recession - and architectural grads had to find work in other fields. When times became better, architectural grads continued being wooed by other fields (i.e. computer animation) as their training in school was very valuable.

So - the question remains: how many of our graduates - male OR female - remain in the field?

I concur with many of the posted comments...and support your continued work in this arena. I graduated with a BArch in 1994 and was licensed in California in 1998. I became a partner in a successful smaller firm in Montana in 2005. Here I am now, at 39, needing to get on the baby train but trying to figure out how to still be a force in my firm, make project visions come to fruition and lovingly have little ones (let alone connect with my husband and have some--a little--of my own time). I see many women after babies go back to work half-hearted and making themselves look half as good. I don't want that...but I want a family. Where is the balance? What is the balance?

Young women must get licensed (and LEED certified) as soon as they possibly can. Life only gets more complicated each day that passes. Get it done and show motivation, credibility and get the monkey off the back as quickly as possible. Many young women have passed through our doors--and failed. We try to understand why this happens as it doesn't happen with the majority of the guys. But it does with the women. Most say to me that the guys "just know how things go together." To this I say, get out every reference book and figure it out--or at least get a starting point--and then insist on getting to the job sites. I believe young women MUST partake in design/build courses in school to see some of the work site happenings in a "safe" environment of school. And then they must be on job sites as frequently as possible. Additionally, we try to take our people to various craftspeople, manufacturers, etc., so everyone can see how products are made and their limitations. I think this is especially imperative for young women. Confidence and knowledge is what seems to be lacking in some women in the profession. How do we build the confidence? How do we build the knowledge? Doesn't seem that hard.

I started my career in San Francisco. Most of my female friends have left the city and moved to Chicago, Seattle, London, Oslo, etc. All say they feel their work doesn't make a difference (and they all work for excellent firms). I would say my work does make a difference. In smaller communities, people pay attention to projects and we do more community based projects here as well. I think I have a bit better chance of surviving the little ones and remaining a force due to less environmental stresses than what exists in urban areas: commuting, big firms for big (?) pay and the associated environment, the way people interact with one another.

I'd be lying if I didn't admit at this stage in my career (working 15 years), I don't have visions of some other creative profession with less stress. We can build buildings...thus, I'm pretty sure we can design and create clothing, furniture, etc...and maybe with less stress. But then again, what will exiting the profession do for the profession? Ugh...what to do?!

I concur with many other posted comments and supporting your cause of continuing to look into this issue. I graduated in 1994 and was licensed in California in 1997. Done. Step one towards greater respect and credibility and looking/being motivated in the profession...and getting the monkey off my back. Women ESPECIALLY need to be licensed and LEED AP, etc., so that registrations are one less thing to worry about.

I became a partner in an operating, very successful firm in Montana in 2005. Now, I'm 39 and want to have kids and need to get on it...and like others have noted, I'm trying to figure out how to still be a force in the firm, carry out project visions and have little ones (let alone have time for a husband and myself). I'm basically preparing everyone working on my projects right now that they might have to 100% take them over in a year or so, so they need to pay attention like the project's their own.

I think many women living in urban areas are pulled even more due to wanting/needing to work in larger firms for better pay (?), commuting to get to work and job sites and then the (personality) challenges of working in larger cities and the associated expectations by those working 70 hour weeks. After living in San Francisco for years, many of my friends moved to Chicago, Seattle, London, Oslo and say they don't feel their work matters. Mine, in a smaller community, does...and I have much less stress in Montana than urban living and working friends do (and we make the same wage, essentially).

Finally, we've had a number of young women out of architecture school pass through our doors...and fail. The guys (for the most part) don't fail. But, the women do. Women MUST be encouraged to do design-build courses in college and get on job sites. Many I interact with feel men "just know how things go together;" this, combined with limited or no on-site experience, psychologically affects their confidence. Process, paperwork, dealing with consultants and contractors and clients...that's not the hard part. Confidence and knowledge is.

Lynn,
Thank you for the article and compilation of data. I did not realize the gravity of the situation. I received my MArch in 1984 and became licensed in 1993. Fortunately, I was able to take the licensing exam before starting our family. I'm not sure how I would have done it with small children, working, etc. I strongly advise getting licensed, as my licensure has definately opened doors for me, and increased my credibility with others. I am taken more seriously as a licensed architect. After many years in a traditional architecture office, I now work for a construction company in the area of continuous improvement with design and construction processes. I think we need to work on creating family friendly work enviornments for all. Keep up the good work and data collection!

It doesn't matter if you want to have children or not, working 15 hour days and 70 hour weeks (of unpaid overtime with minimal to no comp time) can be rather unrewarding and make even the most dedicated architect re-evaluate his or her career choices. I think if we can address this problem in the profession we will have a lower attrition rate period, male or female.

Like so many things in the construction world, there is little data and even less follow through.

I see many women in our office and it is encouraging to see them marry, and stay with the profession... have children and still stay with it including licensure and beyond. I believe there is still pressure out there to bail out and “mommy track.” However, I have been lucky to work in offices that are more and more flexible about parenting issues (by either sex) and there are more and more people encouraging young women to keep at it.

There is lots of work to be done in the entire construction industry, and getting good data is a great place to start.

I graduated with my M.Arch in 2002 and was licensed in 2005. I always assumed that this industry was changing and with my generation, we would start to see things even out. But now I'm not so sure that's the case. Take, for example, how our industry treats working moms. Most firms offer absolutely nothing in terms of maternity leave, and during this recession, I have seen the working moms as those first to go when layoffs occurred. I never thought I'd say this, but I don't know that this is the profession I want to be in when I raise a family. And if I were in a position of mentorship to a girl considering architecture as a profession, I would ask her to consider what her priorities will be if and when she wants to start a family.

Several women, through AIA Rochester (NY), are forming a Women in Architecture Group right now to address much of what Alexis talks about. So, I was glad to see this article. I also agree with Michelle Honey's comments that many women end up in non-traditional architecture positions, as I did in code consulting. But, that leads to my comment to Lisa Black & others who may be frustrated with the process... Don't give up! Do what you can to get your license, because you worked hard to have that honor and it will open up so many more opportunities to you in the future, let alone the respect you will get. It is worth it!!! Try to look for a mentor if you can, for support.

I am a licensed female architect in Wisconsin. I graduated from UW Milwaukee School of Architecture in 1989 and obtained my license within 5 years. I spent the first 16 years in this field working in two of the largest architectural firms in Milwaukee and being one of two or three women working as architects (not necessarily all registered). I found this sad and discouraging when working in firms of 70 - 90 people.

I have seen and lived the struggle that women go through in this profession. This profession is very male dominated and old school in it's philosophy. I waited 10 years to start a family because I thought it would adversely affect my career advancement.

In the last 5 years I have seen somewhat of a change, with the younger generation of male architects starting families of their own. Also, with more women architects and interns working in these large offices. I am hopeful that this trend will continue and life will get a little easier for working women architects who want to also have families.

Great article! I have been wondering where all the female architects have been going. I have been a registered architect for 24 years and am currently the President and majority owner of a small architectural firm in South Bend. Keep researching.

I am one of the women that is on there way to registration. There are days when I want to throw in the towel, between dealing with a firm where I am the only female proffessional with a family and the process of the taking my exams that I feel are nothing but a mind game. Is it not emough that we spend nearly 100K to get to this point. I am sure that one day when I make it past this point in my life I will look back and feel that it wasn't realy all that bad or hard, but for now I can see why some women decide not to become registered.

I find the article extremely interesting with everything you noted 'right on.' Maybe a further study would be to pusue where woman with archiutcture degrees are found-- as for me I have an MBA and am doing Buisness Development for a construction company. Remember an architecture degree doen't always lead to a design position--there are many woman in non-traditional architect roles that still ustilize there education without working in design firms.