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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?

From Groundbreaking to Ceiling Shattering: What's Next?

The Equity in Architecture Survey 2014 closed this past Monday, March 24th with nearly 2300 responses (more than double of our original goal of 1000!).  We received positive comments, encouragement and supporters as well as a lot of constructive feedback on how to improve the survey questions for our next go around.  We made many new friends along the way, through Twitter, Linked In, and Facebook.  It has been an amazing journey to get to this milestone of closing the survey, and yet our work has just begun.  Luckily, eating our whale seams less daunting with 2300 more diners at the table.

If you would like to continue being a part of this research study, there are many ways to help and we would appreciate your continued support and participation.

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Equity in Architecture Survey - Extended to Monday March 24th

UPDATE! The Equity in Architecture Survey has been extended to Monday, March 24, 2014. It will officially close at end of business day at 5:00pm PST  Please encourage your firm, colleagues, friends and alumni to take the survey earlier if possible. If you have started the survey, but have not completed it, you can log back in from the SAME computer and continue where you left off.  You need to submit the survey completed to qualify for the drawing.

To take the survey or find out more about it. Click the link below.

www.themissing32percent.com/survey

Must we "Lean In" or "Opt Out"? Keep Calm and Let's Mambo!

Last Friday, I read The Washington Post, She the People article by Rosa Brooks entitled "Why I hate Sheryl Sandberg" ending with a bravado "Manifestus for the rest of us".  Brooks, whose piece went viral, proposes a revolutionary proposition: Before all the "Leaning In" causes burn out, opting out, and self-sabotage of their careers (resulting in even fewer women in the workforce), women should "Recline" and declare limits for themselves in our increasingly "Maxed Out" world. It’s an epiphany she came to realize while “marking up a memo on U.S. drone policy while simultaneously ordering a custom-decorated cake for my daughter’s sixth grade musical cast party and planning my remarks for a roundtable on women in national security.”

And as I read this, I couldn't help but laugh (nervously) and think that while humorous and entertaining, much of what my namesake was saying was sadly true (and parallel to certain events in my own journey!). The harder we try to please and prove societal biases wrong, the harder we fall at failing to "have it all".  But, why is it that in this failure to achieve the impossible, women start blaming other women for taking polar opposite positions in the "Leaning In" OR "Opting Out" debate. No good will come out of it.

Why do we need to take one side over the other? If we are to survive and succeed in Life's Career Marathon, we (both women and men) would be in a better position with a mindset of striking a balance between "Leaning In" and "Reclining".  How about the Mambo, for instance?

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KEEP CALM and TAKE THE SURVEY

It has been an amazing launch week.  In the first 3 days of the initial PR effort, we have received over 300 responses to the Equity in Architecture Survey. Thank You to those that have taken the time to complete the survey! Additional thanks to those that have sent emails to provide feedback on the survey questions.

Due to the nature of individual circumstances of varying career paths, the survey will not be completely applicable to all situations. Unfortunately, one size does not always fit all. We know that we are light on questions for sole practitioners, small firms, alternative career paths, and the unemployed. Some of you have written to us about this and we have been struggling with these issues since we started this project. Thus our conundrum: limited resources and a very large and varied discussion to cover, deciding where to start, what the "right" questions to ask and who our primary audience would include for Phase 1 were only a few of the many discussions that took place before we even wrote the first question!

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Ready... Set... Survey!

Equity in Architecture Survey 2014

The Survey is now LIVE! Please read below before starting to take the survey and spread the word to your colleagues (both women AND men).

Thank You for your time in contributing to this important research effort. The results of this key study will shape future conversations and best practices for the profession; benefiting both women and men in Architecture. For more information, go to the Project page.

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"How to Eat a Whale" and other 2014 Resolutions

We started this project in July 2013 after The Missing 32% Symposium with rose-colored glass induced euphoria.  Embracing the call to "be the change" is a noble undertaking and it is clear that architectural practice needs to change. But identifying "what" to change and then figuring out "how" to make this happen suddenly became a very daunting proposition; signing up to resolve the gender equity challenges for women in Architectural Practice is nothing short of trying to eat a whale.

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Gender Equity Policy: What we can learn from the Aussies and Brits.

Last week on December 5th, a major breakthrough for gender equity in the profession of architecture was made with the Australian Institute of Architects’ National Council officially approving the organization’s first Gender Equity Policy

The policy establishes ten best practice principles designed to maximize fair and equitable access to opportunities and participation for women within the architecture profession.

The development of the policy follows the Australian Institute’s involvement since 2011 with the Australian Research Council funded Equity and Diversity in the Australian Architecture Profession: Women, Work and Leadership project, which is led by a large collaborative team of eight scholars and five industry partners.

Studies conducted as part of this project have provided qualitative evidence confirming that the participation rate of women in the profession is disproportionately low compared to the number of women graduates in architecture highlighting the specific need to encourage and provide guidelines for the industry to adopt a comprehensive and ethical approach to establishing gender equality across the field.

‘As careers progress, the barriers for women increase, as evidenced by lower numbers in senior positions and higher attrition rates and the need for part time or flexible work hours when juggling career and parenthood affects women most heavily. This policy will go a long way in readdressing these imbalances.’

Paul Berkemeier, President of Australian Institute of Architects

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"Being Engaged" is the new "Being Balanced".

An audience of over 50 people convened at the AIA Center for Architecture on the the evening of Wednesday, November 6th, to listen in on a panel discussion titled, "Careers in the Balance".  This conversation is the first in a series of events and discussions focusing on life/work balance put on by the AIA's ForWARD Committee, a Forum for Women Architects and Related Disciplines. The panelists included architects in large firms, husband/wife partnerships, those in sole proprietorships and the president of an engineering firm. The influence of Sheryl Sandberg, author of the ubiquitous "Lean In", was evident from the start as the evening's moderator began with a thought provoking quote about nobody having it all, or at least no one admitting to having successfully figured it all out. Indicating perhaps, that even this word "life/work balance" is an unrealistic ambition, which I believe was unwittingly revealed through the evening's discourse; but this being a very subjective topic,  I will let you decide…..

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Notes from Nola: Design Forward Conference 2013

The Design Forward Conference held in New Orleans on October 18, 2013 was a huge success for bringing into light so many of the common themes that The Missing 32% project also seeks to explore.

There was an interesting (and I thought appropriate) balance of students and professionals.  The conference was held at the Tulane School of Architecture, giving terrific access to the current student body.  There was also a balance of men and women from the industry, who participated, both as attendees and as panelists. This was intentional and varies from tendency for women dominant participation at similar events including the past Missing 32% Symposiums and the recent AIA Women's Leadership Summit in Phoenix.

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