I don't think they hinder at all! I saw many students take breaks the year before their capstone to go intern in China or gain some professional experience or travel to enhance their capstone thesis in the B.arch. Many employers saw this as a positive

The best thing I did in my academic "career" was to take a year off in between my undergrad and M.Arch to work in a good office for a year. There are is too much to be learned in an office that is incredibly relavent to academia and will enhance your projects that I'd almost argue it should be mandatory (which I believe it is in the UK and Europe?). I'd assume employers would feel similar even if it was in the middle of the degree instead of after (whats the difference, really?)

From an employer's perspective, it all depends on your story about why you did the things you did and how that influenced you for the better.

Why are students repeating a year anyways?

 

Any break or delayed graduation is going to be a talking point in an interview. If it's justified then you've helped your cause. If it's a break because you were burned out, please don't say that in an interview, at least make up a better story.

 

I did all of the above...delayed graduation to take additional classes, took a year off to intern abroad and take an extended research trip for thesis. These are all things you can only do while you're in school. If you don't do it now, odds are you won't be able to once you're in the real world with 10 days paid vacation for the first few years. 

if your resume only says the graduating year, i don't think the potential employer would have any indication of how long it took you to graduate, or if you repeated a year, or whatever.  i would not include your high school unless for whatever reason there are high school alumni connections that will get you a job, which i'm pretty sure is fairly rare.

if there is a gap between bachelor's and masters degrees, i would think it's normal to include both schools.  surely it would be assumed that time was spent working?

The one's who're resitting,their reasons are varied :health issues/underperformance., one did it voluntarily, one got distracted due to extra-curriculars ( who I think was following his interests)  and messed up. 

But then of course, a lot of them are trying to make up for this with their internships and I'm sure they'll all manage to get a strong portfolio and several endorsements which should work in their favour right?

LITS4FormZ : how long an extension are you generally allowed for thesis ?

 

When if they do spend that time working and it isn't related directly to the field and they end up working for social causes with ngo's ?I find it somewhat absurd that it could affect their future employment chances, they're only generally doing what they're passionate about.For eg., I have friend who too a semester off from her uni, went abroad for a 2-month internship with an ngo and then came back and worked locally with  the same ngo, and then continued grad but had a tough time catching up( not the same uni as me though), she thinks it was a great learning experience and doesn't really regret it, although Id think a million times before doing something of that sort. 

From my experience, if there is a gap on your resume (for any reason, really), the potential employer will ask you to explain it. If you have a good reason, then you should be fine. Employers like to hear that you did something out of the ordinary (even if it does not directly relate to architecture). That being said, that year or years spent away will not count as professional experience, which will probably affect the salary you will be offered. In all professions, people benefit greatly from varied experiences, I don't see why they would be a problem.

In terms of delaying graduation to take a year off, I have known people that were able to successfully able to return and graduate, and I have known people that were not. I think that the social aspect may come into play a lot, as it may be difficult to see all of your friends graduate and begin working in the field while you have to still finish another year in school. But it probably all comes back to how much you want it and how determined you are.

Presut - this greatly depends on your program and your thesis advisor. I was allowed to complete my assignments for all other classes via email enabling me to spend a month abroad for research. I skyped in for studio and maintained a blog of research and design progress. If I had any other thesis professor this wouldn't have happened. Plan ahead and get decision makers behind your project.