What It’s Like to Be a Woman of Color in Architecture

Researchers studying bias in the architecture industry found that it plays out similarly to other industries they’ve studied, including law, science, and engineering. They found that only a quarter of white male architects, but more than half of women of color, reported they had to prove themselves more than their colleagues. Fewer than one in five white male architects, but fully half of women of color (and nearly two thirds of Black women), reported questions being addressed to someone else even though they are the expert. While most respondents reported a need to be authoritative and ambitious to succeed, women of color said they need to be authoritative and ambitious in ways that are seen as “appropriate” by those in charge, typically white men. Only about a quarter of white men reported pushback for assertiveness, as compared to half of the women of color, and 60% of multiracial women. Nearly two thirds of Black female architects, but only one third of white men, reported that they are seen as worker bees, which affects who gets the glamour work and who does the “office housework.” And only 15% of white men, but about half of women of all races, reported that having children changed their colleagues’ perceptions of their commitment and competence. Real change will take companies willing to adopt a sustained, evidenced-based approach to interrupt bias in everyday workplace interactions and business systems, using metrics to establish baselines and measure progress.