Graduating from architecture school, there was certainly a male dominance in the student body and the faculty. As a working professional, this has not been the case for me however. At my first job in Ohio (nearby where I attended school), it was more male dominant, but in the Seattle market, there has been a better balance. My first job in Seattle was more or less a 50/50 male to female ratio.
Why is that? It could be attributed to many factors including university acceptance practices in west coast schools, a different market for design in the Seattle area, and overall progress toward equality in the Seattle area. I have had the opportunity to work with really great designers and some really poor ones of both genders. In my experience, gender has not played any role in the skill level of the people I have worked with. In my small business, I have always tried to hire the best person for the job, and that has happened to be nearly exclusively females. Design is a trade that requires a really good balance of spatial awareness, technical problem solving, and careful organization skills. I have heard people say that one gender is more likely to excel at technical issues and another is better at spatial awareness. I have never encountered this personally, and I have seen both genders struggle and excel at both.
Everyone is different regardless of gender, and I think it’s important to recognize it. This is where equality and fairness come in to play. When you think of the world in a broader context that spans more time and more places than you have been part of, there is an obvious problem historically that still persists today. Male dominant fields exist, female dominant roles exist, but anyone, regardless of gender, is capable of fulfilling them. It is important to participate in the progress that has been made in gender equality and recognize that there’s more work to be done. I’m happy to live in a world where people can acknowledge there is an equality problem and do something about it. I have a wife that has dealt with pay inequalities and a daughter that will benefit from awareness and action on this problem. We teach our kids to look beyond gender, race, and other differences in the things they choose to do, and I think, with time, that this will help to tip the scales to equality. How is this achieved? In our case, it is by teaching ... which really just means we talk about it instead of pretending like there’s no problem. Communication builds awareness. Awareness offers knowledge. Knowledge instigates the power for taking action.
What kind of action can you take? Start with respect. Treating people in an unbiased way is the cornerstone of respect. Honor people for their traits and not identities they cannot control. Hold fairness as a paramount endeavor in you life. Stand up for those who are not treated fairly. Close the pay gaps. Talk to those in power to make them aware of this issue. Convince them to take action. If more people act, the faster the change will happen. I’m proud to have a female dominated workplace and to work with other companies in the construction industry that have beaten the male dominant paradigm. I’m lucky to have a daughter that will benefit from my wife’s diligence to teach her that she has no limits. I’m fortunate to have a son that we teach to treat others fairly. In the past, these issues were not apparent to me. As I’ve heard others close to me talk about equality, I’ve become aware. That is exactly what we need to keep doing. I’m open to ideas for how to broaden the conversation and instigate more rapid change. Thank you for reading this, and thank you for supporting one another and for practicing mutual respect.
Shout out to the awesome women I’ve worked with at Josh Architects: Heather, Holley, Callie, Erin, Jessica, Ester, Yo-yo, Jennifer, Lisa, Shannon, Michelle, and my daughter, Sunny!
If you’d like to learn more about our design process, visit www.josharch.com/process, and if you’d like to get us started on your project with a feasibility report, please visit www.josharch.com/help