Ask the Architects

Leading female UK architects share their experiences of being a woman in the profession, and the challenges that still exist for achieving gender diversity. Participants: Sadie Morgan, co-founder, dRMM Architects; Jane Duncan, director at Jane Duncan Architects & RIBA past president; Fionn Stevenson, professor of architecture, University of Sheffield; Angela Dapper, partner Denton Corker Marshall; Denise Bennetts, founding principal Bennetts Associates

Should we be celebrating women in the profession as ‘female architects’?

Sadie: Celebrating achievements is absolutely the way to go. The profession has treated me incredibly well and I’m very grateful for the successes I’ve had, and I am also very conscious of the importance of having role models for young women to understand that they can achieve in what is still a very male-dominated industry. I have come to the conclusion that we need to keep ourselves in the limelight. Angela: Giving women more coverage and creating role models helps encourage more women to enter the profession and hopefully to stay in the profession.

Jane: Architects are architects, some are women (too few still), all have to undertake the same long and difficult training before qualification. There are great women in architecture, past present and future, whom we can and should celebrate, not as women architects, but as great architects.

Denise: We should acknowledge and celebrate the contribution that women have been making to the profession for more than a century. For too many years their work and achievements were not afforded the same recognition and acclaim than that of their male contemporaries and colleagues; I am delighted that things have changed for the better in that respect. However, I think care needs to be taken not to adopt lazy attitudes and potentially misleading language in discussions – I have never subscribed to the notion of being a ‘female architect’ as distinct from an ‘architect’. I have always worked in collaborative environments which have not been premised on gender.

Is being a female less of an issue in the profession than 10 years ago?

Fionn: On balance, probably, and certainly the surveys seem to say so – but we still have a long, long way to go. Some things have improved – we have more women entering architecture than ever before, but we have nowhere near enough women directors in practice.

Angela: There have definitely been improvements in gender equality and particularly in awareness of inappropriate behaviour, so the profession feels more supportive now than 10 years ago.

Jane: There are more young women architects so it is becoming normal, but we still see the attrition of mid-career women, and older firms’ glass ceilings still firmly in place. We need more role models, and practices need to have people-friendly policies.

Sadie: Things that have been an issue – such as quite considerable pay gaps – are being talked about and articulated, so the industry is more aware, and that can only be a good thing. Denise: When I qualified 40 years ago the notion of type-casting women as being better suited to particular types or scales of projects had abated and I was able to develop my career on large-scale, complicated projects. What has changed since is that there are more visible women role models, mentors and collaborators. It would now be odd to go to a job interview, or client/site meeting, and for women not to be participating in many of the roles.

What are the key challenges the industry still presents to women architects?

Fionn: Pay, childcare and respect. All practices have to be transparent about pay and bonuses, otherwise discrimination will continue in secret. Look at the pay differences revealed by the legislated requirement for large practices to disclose them. Without adequate state-funded childcare, from six months onwards, women will never be able to compete on equal terms with men for promotion. On respect, a young graduate architect wrote to me recently as I am an RIBA Role Model for diversity – she said she felt “crushed” by people in her office, who gave her very little support. This has to change.

Angela: The main issue is women leaving, which is such a waste of talent; a common reason is due to a lack of work/life balance, which is exacerbated due to having children, low salaries and the cost of childcare.

Denise: In our practice we always come back to the issue of childcare as this tends to have the most direct and potentially difficult impact. It varies by circumstance – the balance of responsibility between partners, travel time, lack of nearby family – but it is a recurrent issue that a mother can feel that somehow she is not fulfilling her professional responsibilities. Fewer mothers are opting to limit their career aspirations than in the past, and hopefully flexibility of working arrangements will facilitate this.

Is pay equality the major problem when it comes to gender in architecture?

Jane: Sadly it is, but it’s changing as staff are more aware. The younger generation don’t understand it, so there’s huge hope for the future.

Sadie: I am always appalled to hear there is still a gap not only in pay, but in responsibility. It is definitely something we still need to highlight, but it feels like it’s getting better.

Denise: Equal pay for the same job is not only a legal requirement but, as far as our practice is concerned, a moral obligation; gender pay reporting premised on mean and median differences should not be confused as suggesting unequal pay. What is inescapable is that currently we have too few women in the profession, particularly in the older age range. Ensuring equality of opportunity is an essential aspect of precluding potential gender issues.

Fionn: Adequate childcare is still the biggest problem – people just assume the mother will generally take care of the children, ultimately, because we do not have adequate paternity leave, maternity leave or daily childcare funded by the state, or set up by practices. Once suitable childcare is in place, women can compete on the same terms, and earn the same as men, currently women often have to work twice as hard to make the same progress.

Angela: Generally the pay issue relates to the fact that women are poorly represented in senior positions.

Do you think it’s still harder for female architects to progress in firms than male counterparts?

Sadie: I don’t think so, and if it is, then go to a practice where you can. It is proven that a diverse workforce and senior management means you do better work and are more profitable. Firms making it harder for women to progress need to get out of the stone age.

Angela: I still believe women face more gender stereotypes, particularly in regards to seniority.

Jane: Good workers and good architects will always succeed if they are in the right practice, one that supports and encourages them. At the RIBA I helped to establish Practice Role Models to show firms how they could be a great retainer of people, and a successful and profitable company.

How many female colleagues do you have & do you have a policy of recruiting female staff?

Jane: We have about 70 per cent women; these have been the best candidates, and we keep them too! We don’t have quotas or targets, but having a woman leading the company helps attract others.

Sadie: All of our associate directors are women. We need to keep the momentum and ensure women understand they should be going for those senior roles and are absolutely as capable if not more so!

Denise: Currently 34 per cent of our architectural staff is female and we have an overall ratio of 42 per cent women. We have recruited more women to architectural positions in recent years because there has been an increasing number graduating, and we have selected them based on their ability.

How does your firm tackle the challenge of flexibility around childcare?

Angela: Flexibility and work/life balance is key for all staff, whether it be for children, for elderly parents or even key areas such as study.

Denise: Parenting should be a joint responsibility and so we offer the same degree of flexibility to parents irrespective of gender. The agreed option has to be that which best serves the interest of the child and family, so we have three or four day weeks; nine day fortnights; different lengths of working days; work-at-home days, and we also discuss project location. What is important is for the arrangement to be understood by collaborators across the whole team.

Jane: Everyone has issues: childcare, elderly relatives and dependents, physical or mental health, education needs. They are all our people and we accommodate and support them – that’s why we have no turnover of staff except for annual year out students!

Sadie: We try to be incredibly flexible, not only around time, allowing people to leave to drop off and pick up, work from home, or work fewer days. We try really hard to have sympathetic conversations with individuals and try and make it work for both of us, maintaining consistency and keeping career paths open after maternity. It’s about a culture that doesn’t look at you strangely when you walk out the door early.

What particular strengths does a more gender-diverse workforce bring?

Jane: It’s very easy to generalise, but a balanced board brings better results. A diverse range of ages and backgrounds is more fun – women/men, young/old, shy/pushy, technically capable/natural designers etc. We all bring something, and our clients like it too.

Angela: Studies have shown that diversity increases creativity and productivity. It’s not about female architects, but about the strengths resulting from the creation of an inclusive environment.

Fionn: Women tend to have a way of working, for a variety of reasons, which is more relational and less individualistic. This is great for teamwork and good communication.

Denise: I think it more that there is massive benefit to be gained for the profession, and society, if architects are drawn from a more eclectic mix in terms of gender and background.

Sadie: We take the person best suited for the job, and we have more women than men in our business which tells its own story. Women bring a perspective of 50 per cent of the population, we tend to be empathetic and good at conflict resolution, and look at things in the round. That’s not to say there aren’t plenty of men who do that, and that there aren’t plenty of single-minded women!

What are the remaining challenges for the profession on gender diversity?

Jane: To normalise a situation where everyone who is working within the profession is supported, challenged and welcomed.

Fionn: The key challenge is to convince people that gender diversity is still an issue – many believe we have overcome all the problems, but the pay gap between men and women is actually increasing in the UK on average.

Angela: The change to create a healthy work/life balance and supportive environment for all will not only help with retaining women in the profession, but with improving diversity and inclusion. People think this is a women’s issue, but the solutions to gender equality are beneficial for everyone’s health and wellbeing.

Denise: The gender ratio has improved and at an accelerating speed, but much needs to be done on addressing wider diversity issues. A key ongoing challenge is to ensure that the improvements made are not hampered by economic issues which preclude training and retention of talented architects from the widest range of backgrounds.

Sadie: There is still a gender pay gap, and we just need to do our best to be sensible and promote women without feeling like they are second class citizens and need help. We have all the ability and more, we just need to make sure everyone has the same opportunities.