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There has been much discussion raised about "Why are women leaving Architecture? and more broadly, Why is the profession losing key talent?"  Both women and men practitioners are disillusioned by the myth of work/life balance: Women are grappling with "have it all" expectations of juggling family time with the demands of full-time work.  Men are struggling to support their families solely on an architect's salary and fall back on asking spouses to maintain their jobs. The lack of affordable childcare and high cost of living only magnifies the challenges.  How did we end up in this modern family dilemma? What can we do to improve the situation?

Help design the 2018 Equity in Architecture Survey!

Equity by Design is gearing up for our 2018 Equity in Architecture Survey, and we want your input! This project builds on previous survey research conducted in 2014, and 2016, and promises to set the stage for progress towards equity within the profession in the coming years.

There are a number of ways to get involved:

  1. Members of the Survey Design Committee will become subject matter experts on one or more research topics, and will be the most intimately involved in the survey design process. This group will work closely with the EQxD Research Chair, and the rest of the core committee to review Equity by Design’s research work to date, as well as outside research, to identify research questions within specified topic areas.  Each member of this group will be asked to focus on one-two topics, and will advise the rest of the team on the most pertinent research in those areas. This commitment will last from October-December of 2017, with the possibility of joining the Research Committee for 2018  in January.
  2. Focus Group Participants will participate in one-hour long feedback sessions on one or more research topics of their choosing (see list of topics in the form below). Focus Group participants will be asked to offer their input on research topics and questions developed by the Survey Design Committee. Participants are welcome to participate in as many or as few of these calls as they wish. Calls will be held weekly from October to December of 2017.
  3. The Survey Outreach team will help the core team organize outreach to potential survey distribution partners, including professional organizations, schools of architecture, and firms to encourage these entities to participate in the survey by sharing it with their mailing lists. This group may also assist with promotional efforts including press releases and blog articles. This commitment will last from November of 2017 through February of 2018.
  4. Beta Survey Takers will take the survey approximately a week before it is formally launched, and will then take a follow-up survey indicating questions that were confusing, glitches, etc. As we would like a small, but representative group of Beta Survey Takers from all areas of the profession, not all volunteers will necessarily be asked to pilot the survey. This commitment will last 1-2 hours in late January or early February of 2018.

In addition to these opportunities for participating in EQxD’s research project, there are a number of other ways to get involved. Please feel free to use the form below to let us know if you’d like to be contacted for other volunteer opportunities (symposium planning, communications, monthly meeting organization, etc) as they arise.

We hope that you’ll join us in planning for the next phase of the Equity in Architecture Research Project! Please use the form below to tell us how you’d like to participate.