When people think of architects they usually imagine a male and for a long time it has been a very male dominated field. Even though this is slowly changing there is still inequality within the architecture field. A study that was conducted showed that even though women make up half the graduates from architecture programs women make up only 15% of licensed architects.
Factors contributing to inequality in this field of work are:
· The Gender Pay Gap:
In 2020 The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) reported that the median
gender
pay gap was 9.49% and the mean was 18.33% . This discourages women from
wanting to work in this field as they know that even if they work the same as their
male counterparts they will still get paid less.
· Perception of Female leaders:
As with many professions a woman in power who is seen to most as strong is
sometimes perceived negatively and instead seen as ‘bossy’ or ‘rude’ whereas a
male would be seen as a good leader.
· Female mentors
Architecture firms lack female mentors who can guide and help young women in
the field to develop in their career. We unconsciously gravitate towards mentoring
people who look the same as they do or match interests. Therefore the senior
members of staff, usually males, tend to choose male staff to mentor and develop.
Architecture is a creative but also challenging profession, so having female team members has many advantages. It was found that teams with both males and females had more diverse viewpoints and opinions, therefore allowing more creativity and innovative solutions for design problems. Involving women in a field that reflects the community shows equality and allows women to have their perspectives, views and needs reflected in the final creation. Having female members on a team creates a more balanced group environment resulting in greater productivity.
The architectural industry starts out 90% female graduates which then drops to 70% being practitioners and vendors which stay in the field, this then drops again to about 30% of firm leaders and then even lower to 20% being leaders of product companies.
The interior architectural field is said to have more females as it is seen as more feminine and superficial , however 75% of the Interior Design Hall of Fame members have been male for the last 30 years. 33% of the largest interior design firm partners are female and 67% are male.
The inequality within this field discourages young women who may be talented for this line of work to avoid fulfilling it due to the lack of female representations and how women are treated with their work and talent not being recognised as much as their male counterparts.
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