2007 Convention Program
San Antonio, TX
What does it take to make architecture a sustainable profession, capable of serving a diverse and rapidly changing society? What happens when the skills and abilities, firm investment and productivity are lost to female and minority attrition? Family and personal life is universally understood as “priority”, but our profession requires more of us, within the office and the community. While these demands are common to all architectural professionals, they appear to take the largest toll on female architects as evidenced in attrition rates and firm leadership demographics. Learning how to deal with these conflicting priorities is critical for curbing current rates of burnout, attrition and decreased productivity.
What strategies and techniques have worked for you? What policies, benefits, perquisites or support structures does your firm have in place to reconcile family obligations and work load? How do you advocate for yourself and your concerns within the workplace? How should a firm leader manage disparate staff priorities and still maintain productivity and creativity within the office?
Additional Sources for Information and Discussion- www.matriarchitect.com – A blog produced by the 2007 AIA National Convention matri.ARCH.itect panelists.
- www.momsrising.org – A website dedicated towards “Working together to build a family-friendly America.”
Comments (1)
Taking a Scenic Route
Sylvia Ann Hewlett, known for her book Creating A Life: What Every Woman Needs to Know About Having a Baby and a Career, was at the center of what Salon.com called “the baby panic” in 2002. Hewlett's central thesis was that the higher a woman rises on the career ladder, the less likely she is to have a child. The shock was – of course – that she was willing to put it out there. What was not as sensational was her point that if women want to have a career and family, they need to plan and support that plan with just as much energy and effort as our professional credentials.
In her new book Off-Ramps and On-Ramps: Keeping Talented Woman on the Road to Success, Hewlett states that most professional women step off the career fast track at some point in their career to focus on other aspects of their lives – only one of which is children. She argues that in order to make the workplace more inviting for women to come back to the on-ramp for their careers, employers should create a system to welcome them back without marginalizing them for their choice to leave.
I live with trying to keep balance every day, as do many others. There isn’t a day where I don’t think I should be home with my child or conversely if I’m not working enough. There is little validation in the “working mother” role. However, the pulling demands are not always about my child – sometimes parents, volunteering, obligations, and personal time. As the moderator for the Matri.ARCH.itect panel, I was privy to some of the deep conversations four women can have regarding the how we manage to balance.
To listen to an episode of NPR’s On Point with Tom Ashbrook on “Keeping Women at Work:
Visit Keeping Women at Work.
To read a BusinessWeek article on four books on the “The Working-Mom Quandary”, including
Off-Ramps and On-Ramps: Keeping Talented Women on the Road to Success by Sylvia Ann Hewlett (Harvard Business School Press, 299pp., $29.99)
Mothers on the Fast Track: How a New Generation Can Balance Family and Careers by Many Ann Mason and Eve Mason Ekman (Oxford University Press, 149pp., $24.95)
Opting Out? Why Women Really Quit Careers and Head Home by Pamela Stone (University of California Press, 295pp., $24.95)
Back on the Career Track: A Guide for Stay-at-Home Moms Who Want to Return to Work by Carol Fishman Cohen and Vivian Steir Rabin (Warner Business Books, 297pp., $24.99)
Visit The Working-Mom Quandary.
Posted by Emily Grandstaff-Rice, AIA | June 5, 2007 3:56 PM
Posted on June 5, 2007 15:56