Gender equality is not
only a fundamental human right but a necessary foundation for a prosperous and
sustainable world. Providing equal access to education, public spaces, health
care, decent work, and representation in decision-making processes ensure
sustainable development. Biased language leads to biased technology which in
turn leads to a biased environment.
Gender-based violence
in urban and rural areas can be attributed to factors such as poverty,
discrimination, exclusion and, lack of gender mainstreaming in urban development
leading to public spaces and structures not catering to all genders equally.
Women are
underrepresented in architecture not just at the top of the field but at all
levels of practice. Even as women have been gradually increasing their numbers,
they have mostly done so at lower ranks of both the academy and the profession.
Not surprisingly,
then, the percentage of women in architecture radically decreases as one moves
up the ladder toward more senior positions and prestigious honors. Female
mentors and role models are in scarce supply. (Apart from Zaha Hadid how many
female architects can you name?) And though women are growing in numbers in the
lecture hall, they are underrepresented on course syllabuses, which can send a
message that women are not valued as participants.
Many women choose not
to enter the field after graduation due to low-paid jobs, no job security, no
clarity for the future, and many more. Poor conditions during the work hours may include high stress and poor security. Women also think that the profession
as an architect is inflexible which is not family-friendly. Long hours of job
which may be a guilt trip and to manage work-life balance, motherhood, etc., Are
the reasons for the female architects not to continue their job and choose to
be lecturers or leave the profession in the industry.
In architecture, peer
review dominates. When tenure decisions are made by committees made up of men,
consist of interviews with mostly male candidates, and are sent to male
provosts for approval system perpetuates itself. Female architects make less
than their male counterparts at every level of experience. They are sidelined
at every tread where their ideas are disregarded and die to paternalism in
the workplace is also the reason for the limiting progression of the women in
the field of architecture. So females should be included in the formation of any
decision-making committee, to minimize the gender binaries in the industry.
Including women in the
process of creating the space can insignificantly make that space gender-neutral. Taking gender-sensitive planning aspects, we can create a space, which feels safe for everybody. For example, converting football cages for activities
that adapt both the genders, in this case, volleyball and badminton courts.
Correcting the
elements that begin to play a larger part in designing the building of the
future, and by self-correcting are all general biases we might design spaces
that will work better for all.
Women architects want
to be a good architect who has a meaningful impact they don't want to be known
for being a 'good woman architect'. Architecture needs to look like the world
it serves and that's everybody. Gender equality shouldn't only be limited to
giving credit to female for their work, but she should also be involved.
Societal norms mean
women are less likely to brag about their achievements because they disrupt
gender expectations, which many believe Carrier limiting. Men tend to cite
their achievements more than women, inevitably meaning their works are more
widely publicized. Moreover, when women are interviewed they are more often
asked questions about feminism and gender equality in the industry, rather than
questions that focus on their work. The cumulative effect is that the architectural
achievements of women suffer less promotion.
But in this era, gender binaries are reducing. Women in architecture are recognized and given
importance in the industry. But they are not highlighted as the media is not
bringing them into the light, by asking 'where are female architects?' and 'I
can't name five female architects'. They are right here and these types of
titles are not advancing the cases of gender bias. This adds to the misleading
narrative that there are none out there. It's a negative story to suggest
because there are truly so many. We should start writing about them and telling
their unique stories to the world. They need to be discussed and approached
thoughtfully. Showing their success, their reinventions of practices, and how
they forged their own paths.
Female architects are
doing well exceptionally by working and simultaneously running the business, acting
as caregivers and making time to mentor. There are clearly many women who are
architects, but the yardstick for evaluating good architecture and success is
shortsighted.
As fast as India is
concerned, it is an emerging and developing country.
This fast-changing face of India is partly due to the brilliant architects in
the country. Architecture strengthens the ties between the people and their
environment and brings about positive social change. The study of year-wise
registration of architects by the Council of Architecture, India shows the growth
of number which proves that the countries economical growth increases the
requirement of architects for further development. So, both are
interdependent factors.
The data mentioned above by the COA shows
that the growth of the number of registered architects is very slow till 2014 since
2003, we can notice the sudden growth of the same from 2015 till 2017 again a
sudden fall in the year 2018 in India. While women graduate from the
architecture schools at near parity with men, less than 20 percent become
licensed practitioners. In the field of architecture, women face a lot of genders
discrimination in terms of retention, promotion, earnings, access to seniority,
leadership opportunities or belief that their contribution has been taken
seriously. In the field of architecture, women face a lot of genders
discrimination in terms of retention, promotion, earnings, access to seniority,
leadership opportunities or belief that their contribution has been taken
seriously.
Few women have broken this gender barrier
and came out successfully in their business. There are so many notable names
who have achieved international fame and awards and are working towards a
sustainable society. Here is a small description of five of the top women
architects in India according to an article published by REALTY NXT on top
women architects in India, whose talents know no boundaries. They are Brinda
Somaya an Architect and Conservationist, Sheila is an internationally claimed
Architect, Urban Designer, and Sustainability Expert. Chitra Vishwanath‘s
Biome Environmental Solutions is a Bangalore-based design firm focused on
ecology, architecture and, water. Shelia owns her architectural firm SKJ
Architects in Mumbai with 15 women employees in her firm. She has diversified
her activities to cover industrial buildings, educational institutions,
bungalows, and interior design of large spaces. Anupama Kundoo has her focus set
on material research and experimentation towards an architecture that has a low
environmental impact and is appropriate to the socio-economic context
(Achoriwala:2018). The status of these exceptionally brilliant architects cannot be
generalized while assessing the status or level of empowerment of women architects
in India.
But as per my opinion in general, in India, it’s not the profession of Architecture that discriminates, but it’s the social
and family role that forces architect women to stay away from practicing in the
field and make other choices for careers. So only the change in socio-cultural
values will have more women architects practicing the profession.
The above two
charts represent the data of the ratio of male and female architects in the year
2013 and 2019 mentioned by COA, India. This shows that the ratio of women
architects registered has increased.
In the perspective
of Vertica Dvivedi, Founder & Director, WADE ASIA according to the last
available data, 41% of architecture graduates in the US were female, while only
20% were licensed women architects. In India, there are close to 91,000
architects. It is surprising to know the ratio of male to female in
architecture schools. Today, the numbers of females far exceed men. So, as per
Vertica India is surely going to have more women architects in the future.
Reading the above data given by
COA we observe that 53 percent of women architects who are employed in the
private sector do the drafting, 3D visuals, of the design made by other
architects which are in general supposed to be the lowest rank of work in
architecture field having minimum earnings. Design works are mostly done by
chief architects and are rarely given to female architects who are mostly not
willing to go for site visits and are more oriented to work inside the office
and the scope of site visits is also not given to them for security reasons in
the plea of women-specific vulnerability.
It reflects clear-cut gender discrimination in work allocation in the field of architecture. The
heavy concentration of women architects in the private sector also leads to
casualization, marginalization, hiring and firing, and misutilization of cheap
female labor of women architects in this field. We all want to be valued for
the quality of the work we do, not framed by the fact of our gender. But
despite our best efforts, we are not always in control of how others see us.
Around 17 percentage of women architects are in the field of others which means
they are doing personal work with or without payment, this is also a causal
treatment of women architects in India. Women architect constitutes a major
portion of 16.99 percentage women in this group get experience and training
from renowned firms or degrees from renowned institutes and have established
their independent firm. They are mostly located in developed cities of India
and generally having a strong financial background. This is the most empowered
group among the female architects who have established their carrier. Only 1.18
percentage of women architects are employed other than the Government
sector, having a good paycheck. In the Government sector, only 1.4 percentage
of women architects are employed who are getting a good salary in class one. If
the government could have created more job opportunities the condition of women
architects would have developed. This is a challenge on the part of the
Government of India to create more job opportunities to empower women
architects of our country. Women architects who are practicing as a partner are
very minimum constituting 0.72 percentage in India. Women architects who are
capable enough are taken as partners and who are relatives or space are also
considered as partners exempting their capability and are taken as sleeping
partners too. But this is also a promising section where empowered women
architects can become practicing partners except the spousal and relative entrepreneur.
Here women architects are not considered as architects having an independent human right who can also flourish as their male counterparts.
A/N: co-author -Pallavi K
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