How Pros Are Working to Support Women in Architecture
Industry groups and leaders are creating guides, talks and other initiatives aimed at making their world more inclusive
When 600 architecture and design professionals gathered this month for the 2019 AIA Women’s Leadership Summit in Minneapolis, breakout sessions like the one led by Hallie DelVillan Crouch of architecture firm Bialosky Cleveland and Julia Gamolina of architecture firm FXCollaborative and MadameArchitect.org were focused on looking to the industry’s future.
DelVillan Crouch told us she and Gamolina planned to use their workshop, “The Future Is Female: How Firms Can Empower Tomorrow’s Leaders,” to arm their fellow female architecture pros with skills to better navigate an industry where men still vastly outnumber women. The session, DelVillan said, would focus on “soft skills” such as active listening, public speaking and negotiation that are often overlooked but can actually be more valuable in business than skills that are more technical. DelVillan Crouch and Gamolina rebranded these abilities “power skills.”
“There’s so much data and so many anecdotes about how women are cultured and groomed to not speak up in a room and to be polite and navigate the line between when to ask for something and when it’s overstepping the line,” says DelVillan Crouch, Bialosky Cleveland’s marketing director and in-house architecture coach. “There are some really jarring statistics about women’s hesitation to negotiate in any form, at any level, even in their own lives, because that’s not what we’re groomed to do. So I think we chose some of these power skills that we think would be most useful to women from our own experience.”
The workshop is just one example of the many ways architects and industry groups are tackling the multifaceted issues that persist in an industry where men still hold most positions of power. Here we look at just a few of the efforts underway to build a more equitable architecture infrastructure and design an industry that better reflects the world around it.
DelVillan Crouch told us she and Gamolina planned to use their workshop, “The Future Is Female: How Firms Can Empower Tomorrow’s Leaders,” to arm their fellow female architecture pros with skills to better navigate an industry where men still vastly outnumber women. The session, DelVillan said, would focus on “soft skills” such as active listening, public speaking and negotiation that are often overlooked but can actually be more valuable in business than skills that are more technical. DelVillan Crouch and Gamolina rebranded these abilities “power skills.”
“There’s so much data and so many anecdotes about how women are cultured and groomed to not speak up in a room and to be polite and navigate the line between when to ask for something and when it’s overstepping the line,” says DelVillan Crouch, Bialosky Cleveland’s marketing director and in-house architecture coach. “There are some really jarring statistics about women’s hesitation to negotiate in any form, at any level, even in their own lives, because that’s not what we’re groomed to do. So I think we chose some of these power skills that we think would be most useful to women from our own experience.”
The workshop is just one example of the many ways architects and industry groups are tackling the multifaceted issues that persist in an industry where men still hold most positions of power. Here we look at just a few of the efforts underway to build a more equitable architecture infrastructure and design an industry that better reflects the world around it.
Victoria A. Rospond’s firm, CDR Studio Architects, designed this New York home.
Best-Practices Guides
Architects and firms trying to better understand the roots of these inequities and how they can take action to create and support a more diverse industry can now choose from several comprehensive resources. Research, such as the Equity in Architecture Survey conducted by AIA San Francisco’s Equity by Design committee, has highlighted where the industry falls short in areas like equal pay and work-life balance. The 2018 survey, the group’s third since 2014, collected responses from 14,360 participants representing architecture industry groups, architecture school alumni and large and small firms, making it the largest survey ever conducted on the topic of equity in architecture in the U.S.
The wider AIA, in partnership with the University of Minnesota, the University of Washington and the AIA’s Equity and the Future of Architecture Committee (EQFA), began releasing chapters of its in-depth Guides for Equitable Practice in November 2018. The guides — divided into nine parts — are meant to help individuals and firms understand and address equity issues, from workplace culture to recruitment and retention.
Read more about the Equity in Architecture Survey and its findings
Best-Practices Guides
Architects and firms trying to better understand the roots of these inequities and how they can take action to create and support a more diverse industry can now choose from several comprehensive resources. Research, such as the Equity in Architecture Survey conducted by AIA San Francisco’s Equity by Design committee, has highlighted where the industry falls short in areas like equal pay and work-life balance. The 2018 survey, the group’s third since 2014, collected responses from 14,360 participants representing architecture industry groups, architecture school alumni and large and small firms, making it the largest survey ever conducted on the topic of equity in architecture in the U.S.
The wider AIA, in partnership with the University of Minnesota, the University of Washington and the AIA’s Equity and the Future of Architecture Committee (EQFA), began releasing chapters of its in-depth Guides for Equitable Practice in November 2018. The guides — divided into nine parts — are meant to help individuals and firms understand and address equity issues, from workplace culture to recruitment and retention.
Read more about the Equity in Architecture Survey and its findings
This Detroit project is by Chandra Moore’s coG-studio.
Tapping Shared Experiences
Simply connecting with fellow women architects and sharing experiences can create an important sense of support and camaraderie, DelVillan Crouch says. She’s seen a growing number of women and minority affinity groups form within larger firms in recent years and is hopeful that this type of professional networking will translate into more women thriving in the industry.
“While there is a lot of catching up to do, I’m still really encouraged by the shift that’s happening,” she says. “An important number to know is when a minority in a company reaches 30%, that’s deemed by researchers as the threshold where they’re no longer tokens. They’re a critical mass that can effect change. And I think 30% is so achievable. And Bialosky has crossed that line recently and realized what that has meant, and you look around and you realize we’re not a token, you have a voice.” The firm just held its first women’s retreat, an event DelVillan Crouch called “empowering and amazing.”
“I’m seeing similar trends of affinity groups — groups in companies that have a shared characteristic, women or LGBTQ or parents or moms or Hispanic — to try to build that connection and work through those issues and figure out belonging,” DelVillan Crouch says.
Summer Camp for Girls, Construction Edition
Tapping Shared Experiences
Simply connecting with fellow women architects and sharing experiences can create an important sense of support and camaraderie, DelVillan Crouch says. She’s seen a growing number of women and minority affinity groups form within larger firms in recent years and is hopeful that this type of professional networking will translate into more women thriving in the industry.
“While there is a lot of catching up to do, I’m still really encouraged by the shift that’s happening,” she says. “An important number to know is when a minority in a company reaches 30%, that’s deemed by researchers as the threshold where they’re no longer tokens. They’re a critical mass that can effect change. And I think 30% is so achievable. And Bialosky has crossed that line recently and realized what that has meant, and you look around and you realize we’re not a token, you have a voice.” The firm just held its first women’s retreat, an event DelVillan Crouch called “empowering and amazing.”
“I’m seeing similar trends of affinity groups — groups in companies that have a shared characteristic, women or LGBTQ or parents or moms or Hispanic — to try to build that connection and work through those issues and figure out belonging,” DelVillan Crouch says.
Summer Camp for Girls, Construction Edition
This Texas kitchen is part of a home designed by Dianne Kett’s DK Studio.
A Push for Micro-Level Progress
Pinch points that have long sidetracked women from reaching senior leadership roles in their architecture careers remain, but even small steps forward are encouraging, particularly when you pair that progress with the larger conversations now occurring industrywide. Dianne Kett, principal architect at DK Studio in Austin, Texas, says she still hears from younger women in the industry who are facing the type of mistreatment from male colleagues that she did in her early years in the field, and she still sees having children affecting women architects in a way it doesn’t affect men. “Married architect men will continue to work late at night and on the weekends, letting their wives do the caregiving,” Kett says. “I feel like this is changing with the millennial generation. But the predominant senior roles are still filled with men that had this type of home situation. It has not changed. And this trickle down of this ‘bias’ is then taught to the younger professionals.”
Still, because of the efforts to inspire more women to enter and stay in architecture, Kett sees a brighter, more equitable future for the industry. For instance, she’s seeing more women leaving large firms and branching out on their own, as she did, creating hours and employee policies that are more family-friendly.
“I run my own firm. We do not work overtime, everyone leaves at 5 p.m.,” Kett says. “I have had female employees that have had babies and children, and we do a lot of working remotely from home and being flexible with schedules. It can be challenging, but as long as we keep an open communication about it, we still get the work completed.”
Adding women to other areas that affect the profession, such as architectural juries and career fairs, may also create meaningful change, Kett says. Since joining the San Antonio Women in Architecture group, she has been working with others in the group and within her firm to make women architects more visible at local career fairs, particularly those in areas with more diverse attendees. “The idea is [that seeing] women architects talking about being in the profession will encourage more women to enter the profession,” Kett says. “We then need to develop mentor programs to continue encouraging women to stay in the profession. Hopefully, the more women enter the profession, they will then hopefully stay in the profession and the reasons that lead women to depart the profession will decline.”
Together, these efforts and many others have the potential to not only make architecture a more welcoming industry for women and other minorities but a more just and adaptable industry overall. A more diverse talent pool will be better able to serve the people who will ultimately be living in the environment being built, the architects we spoke to all said.
“Gender is not a women’s issue. Fair and just access to opportunities means a fair and just profession, which is what everybody wants in the end,” DelVillan Crouch says. “We’re taught in middle school science class that the most sustainable ecosystems are the ones that have biodiversity, and then somehow we lose sight of that lesson as we grow older. So I think that same science rule applies: When we’re more diverse and we have different DNA running through the whole profession, we’re going to be more stable. We’re going to be able to weather whatever storms happen.”
More for Pros on Houzz
Read more stories for pros
Browse millions of photos for inspiration
Talk with your peers in the Pro-to-Pro discussions
Join the Houzz Trade Program
A Push for Micro-Level Progress
Pinch points that have long sidetracked women from reaching senior leadership roles in their architecture careers remain, but even small steps forward are encouraging, particularly when you pair that progress with the larger conversations now occurring industrywide. Dianne Kett, principal architect at DK Studio in Austin, Texas, says she still hears from younger women in the industry who are facing the type of mistreatment from male colleagues that she did in her early years in the field, and she still sees having children affecting women architects in a way it doesn’t affect men. “Married architect men will continue to work late at night and on the weekends, letting their wives do the caregiving,” Kett says. “I feel like this is changing with the millennial generation. But the predominant senior roles are still filled with men that had this type of home situation. It has not changed. And this trickle down of this ‘bias’ is then taught to the younger professionals.”
Still, because of the efforts to inspire more women to enter and stay in architecture, Kett sees a brighter, more equitable future for the industry. For instance, she’s seeing more women leaving large firms and branching out on their own, as she did, creating hours and employee policies that are more family-friendly.
“I run my own firm. We do not work overtime, everyone leaves at 5 p.m.,” Kett says. “I have had female employees that have had babies and children, and we do a lot of working remotely from home and being flexible with schedules. It can be challenging, but as long as we keep an open communication about it, we still get the work completed.”
Adding women to other areas that affect the profession, such as architectural juries and career fairs, may also create meaningful change, Kett says. Since joining the San Antonio Women in Architecture group, she has been working with others in the group and within her firm to make women architects more visible at local career fairs, particularly those in areas with more diverse attendees. “The idea is [that seeing] women architects talking about being in the profession will encourage more women to enter the profession,” Kett says. “We then need to develop mentor programs to continue encouraging women to stay in the profession. Hopefully, the more women enter the profession, they will then hopefully stay in the profession and the reasons that lead women to depart the profession will decline.”
Together, these efforts and many others have the potential to not only make architecture a more welcoming industry for women and other minorities but a more just and adaptable industry overall. A more diverse talent pool will be better able to serve the people who will ultimately be living in the environment being built, the architects we spoke to all said.
“Gender is not a women’s issue. Fair and just access to opportunities means a fair and just profession, which is what everybody wants in the end,” DelVillan Crouch says. “We’re taught in middle school science class that the most sustainable ecosystems are the ones that have biodiversity, and then somehow we lose sight of that lesson as we grow older. So I think that same science rule applies: When we’re more diverse and we have different DNA running through the whole profession, we’re going to be more stable. We’re going to be able to weather whatever storms happen.”
More for Pros on Houzz
Read more stories for pros
Browse millions of photos for inspiration
Talk with your peers in the Pro-to-Pro discussions
Join the Houzz Trade Program
Creative Visibility Efforts
There’s a saying that you can’t be what you can’t see, and Gamolina and others are working to make sure that women and other minorities in the industry — or those considering entering the profession — have relatable role models. Gamolina, for instance, is the founder and editor of MadameArchitect.org, which has profiled more than 50 women in architecture and showcased their achievements. She’s also served as one of several guest editors on the website of Architexx, an advocacy group for women in architecture.
“You can go to an AIA convention and see that there are definitely more women involved in architecture, and you know from the statistics in schools that there are definitely more women going to architecture school, but I think the point of this organization is that there are not enough women making the decisions,” says Victoria A. Rospond, one of Architexx’s founding board members and a partner at CDR Studio Architects in New York.
In addition to its curated website, the group hosts workshops, promotes outreach and mentorship programs and offers resources for women and minorities in the industry. Architexx recently received a grant to keep its traveling exhibit “Now What?! Advocacy, Activism and Alliances in American Architecture Since 1968” on the road, and Rospond says the group is working to raise money for a full- or part-time staffer to help coordinate its growing slate of initiatives.
Although the National Architectural Accrediting Board reports relatively equal numbers of men and women enrolled in accredited architecture programs (54% and 46%, respectively), research shows that the number of women who go on to practice architecture drops off significantly. Architects of color make up a far smaller percentage of the overall workforce, meaning women of color are particularly underrepresented. According to the University of Cincinnati’s Directory of African American Architects, for instance, out of 2,297 currently licensed African American architects in the database, only 466 are women.
In Detroit, Rivet Design Collective, a group of multicultural professionals in different design fields, hosts meetups and networking and educational events to spotlight the city’s diverse creative community. Chandra Moore, founding principal at architecture and design firm coG-studio, who participated in a panel with Rivet this month, says that while African Americans and other minorities tend to be better represented in interior design, architecture still has a lot of work to do in terms of gender and diversity in general.
“I think introducing it at career fairs, introducing it to other students would be helpful, I think getting out into the community and doing that part would be helpful, and I just don’t think we as architects do enough of that,” Moore says. “I think they just need to give us more of a ground to play on the field with everyone. I think that we currently don’t have that.”
Efforts gaining traction on this front include Black Females in Architecture, a network in the U.K. that supports, promotes and mentors fellow black women in the field, and Indigenous Scholars of Architecture, Planning and Design, a group founded by three Native American women at Yale’s architecture school. An ISAPD exhibition marking the 50th anniversary of the Native American occupation of Alcatraz — “Making Space for Resistance: Past, Present, Future” — opened late last month and explores planning ideas that the occupation inspired.