Following a year of high-profile debates surrounding women in architecture, the results from the Architects' Journal (AJ) third annual survey entitled Women in Architecture has been revealed. According to the AJ, "two thirds of women in architecture have suffered sexual discrimination at work, an eight point increase since the survey began in 2011", and "88% of women respondents believe that having children puts women at a disadvantage in architecture." Even though women in architecture believe that they are paid equally to men, they can in fact "earn as much as £10,000 ($16,500) less than their male counterparts." More, after the break.
The perceived pay gap is more pronounced in America, with 59% of US based female architects believing they would be paid more if they were male (compared with 34% in the UK). According to a survey by Building Design, the UK and USA rank bottom when it comes to the best countries to be female architect.
With respect to England, the survey found that there is a North-South divide suggesting that "architects in the north suffer even more than those in the south". The survey also revealed that 20% of female architecture students said that they had experienced bullying at university.
The online questionnaire was completed by a total of 926 people (710 women and 216 men), with over 50% being architects and the remaining respondents from a pool of "developers, PRs, consultants, structural engineers, quantity surveyors, academics and students." According to the AJ, almost a third are based in London, 24% in the rest of England, 8% in Scotland, 1% in Wales, 2% in Northern Ireland, and 4% from the rest of Europe. The number of people completing the survey from the USA increased from 4% in 2013 to 24% this year (though they note that this increase is "likely linked to the impact of Denise Scott Brown’s interview with the AJ last year").
The Architects' Journal also recently announced their shortlist for the 2014 Woman Architect of the Year award. Read more about gender and equality amongst female architects here.
References: Architects' Journal
