While women comprise nearly half of graduates from architecture programs in the United States, they make up only about 22% of licensed architects, and only 17% of partners or principals in architecture firms. In recent years, although more women are entering the profession, far fewer attain their license or reach leadership positions in their firms.
The disparity between male and female representation within the profession and limited leadership opportunities have been well documented and are a growing concern. Our global peers in the United Kingdom’s RIBA study “Why do women leave architecture? (de Graft-Johnson, et al., 2003) and Australia’s Parlour study “Equity and Diversity in the Australian Architecture Profession: Women, Work and Leadership” (Clark & Burns, 2014) have conducted research studies on the topic that inspired further inquiry. Recognizing a paucity of similar research and documentation of best practices within the United States, Equity by Design’s mission is to supp
