To highlight one of the most talked-about and sensitive social issues in architecture today, the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) recently released a report that showed the glaring gender gaps in the field of architecture.
Previously, it was reported that the industry is teeming with sexism. Recent statistics from the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards and the American Institute of Architects also showed a striking difference between the number of female enrolments in architecture and the number of qualified, operating female architects in the U.S.
ACSA's new report sheds more light into the gender inequality persisting in the profession - not just at the academic levels but also when it comes to projects, awards and recognition.
The report explains the divide through easy-to-comprehend infographics, one of which shows that one in every four guest lecturers at architectural schools are women and fewer than one in five deans at U.S. architectural schools are women. Only one in four architectural designers in the United States is a woman.
Since 2010, only one in the top architectural award winners have been a woman and the number of awards given to women architects went up only 5 percent in every decade since the 1980s.
"These are the gender gaps that suggest that we need to change, and not simply wait, if we want more women succeeding at the highest levels of the profession and academia," the report asserts also pointing out the ways to eradicate the gender differences in architecture.
"...the data reviewed here suggest that we should focus particularly on two areas: first, what happens before applying to and enrolling in architecture school; and second, what happens at higher levels in the profession, academia, and related practices," the report adds.
"We need to attract and build a student body that is 50% female, then better support female graduates as they look for ways to continue and thrive in the world of architecture," it concludes.
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