The number of women becoming architects in the UK is increasing, according to the latest figures by the UK’s Architects Registration Board (ARB). Now, 7,538 female architects are registered with the ARB, up nearly 74% from just 10 years ago, the Architects’ Journal (AJ) reports. Yet despite the overall increase, women still only make up 22% of the profession, and represented just 38% of the new registrants in 2013.
Read on after the break for comments from female architects…
Although the increase in women was welcomed, many still warned of the need to continue working to have equality in the profession. “From 13% to 38% in 100 years – asumming this kind of change is exponential it should only be about another 40 years to 50:50,” Julia Barfield, managing director of Marks Barfield Architects, commented to AJ.
For Angela Brady, a past president of RIBA, the increase reflects better work environments for women. “Practices are more family friendly and women have less obstacles now than ten years ago,” she said.
Yet for Claire Truman, an associate at EPR Architects, the numbers also show that women are still struggling to make it into the top positions at firms. “The news that 38 per cent of architects registered [in 2013] were women is welcome relief. These figures perhaps put flesh on the bones of anecdotes that a growing pool of talented women are there for promotion but are still often overlooked. A sense of increased frustration in the last couple of years in the slow shifting of the traditional male dominated practice culture has seen a reinvigoration in campaigns focusing on this issue.”
For more on women in architecture, check out our past coverage, including "Why Do Women Really Leave Architecture” Is the Wrong Question, When Will Architects Speak Up for Women’s Rights?, and this Infographic on Women in Architecture.
