In 2016, 42 percent of new AXP participants and 30 percent of new ARE candidates identified as non-white—up three percentage points for both groups. However, diversity among newly licensed architects and NCARB Certificate holders remained the same. For comparison, 38 percent of the U.S. population identifies as either non-white or Hispanic, according to 2015 estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. — NCARB
There are now more women and non-white participants in architecture as of 2016 according to the NCARB, which has just released its 2017 "By the Numbers" report. As NCARB notes in a press release:
“While several groups remain underrepresented within the profession, these trends point to growing diversity among licensure candidates, and eventually, future architects,” said NCARB President Kristine A. Harding, NCARB, AIA. “In response, NCARB will continue to ensure our programs balance inclusivity with the rigor needed to protect the public.”
53 Comments
We should charge straight white men an extra 33% for licensure fees, exams, and dues to make up for the wage gap.
Agreed, although it should only need to be 23% to close that gap, not 33%. James, comments like yours really irk me when I remember how many more men than women are given STEM degrees.. while clearly they cannot even do basic math.
broad generalized comments like yours really irk me.
Dues? Let's not make the AIA more important than they already are. Wage gaps need to be managed at the office level through transparency (cough).
This seems positive until you look across the survey percentages and see diversity decreasing. More underrepresented peoples based on race and gender are entering the field only to be disillusioned for reasons outlined in the AIA's 2016 Diversity Report.
These summaries need to be read in tandem to get a more accurate snapshot of diversity in US practices- not just the one chart illustrated.
Wow you are so right! Everybody perceives a lot of difficulties in advancing further. We need to help them perceive more support.
@ChrisPinkLloydWriteTeeter exactly.
@James Cargill - "perception" is exactly what got the profession where it is. People 'percieve' change, only to learn later on that it's not that deep.
How can we tell when the change is deep enough? Maybe we should provide more scholarships for people who perceive they have disadvantages until they are satisfied with their lot in life.
^Typical. America has a history of going back on it's agreements, contracts, word. I guess the only thought I have is this; Trump is the president we deserve, he's the one this country has been creating in it's Dr. Frankenstein gold plated shit house.
Fuck you and your 40 acres, mule, and reparations.
What? Just what?
@James Cargill.
This isn't an academic problem, it's an office problem. Furthermore, to suggest that increasing the number of underrepresented persons graduating from architecture program will incite change in offices has had a terrible track record. You can look back to the 60's when some of the first attempts were made, or to the 80's when there was a more explicit push to recruit minorities into the profession. This is behavioral and a conventional part of practice.
Other tools are required. I'm not sure of what the would look like at the moment. So you bring forth a good question - However, adding scholarships will not make offices more tenable.
What if we offered higher pay to under-represented groups of people to encourage them to stick around at an office longer?
Sounds good. Lets.
This is one instance that the profession embraces the anti-trust rulings- very little salary oversight.
Only read over to the "Initial Licensure" column. Certificates are a shit way to calculate anything bec ause they're not necessary unless you need reciprocity, and they're only necessary then because of mandates from the monopoly that is NCARB.
It seems that there are many missing messages in this chat. It is a shame that Archinect chooses to censor debate instead of allowing conversation. I wish the architecture and society at large had open, frank discussions about inclusion.
@ James Cargill....Why should straight white males have to pay more? Do you really think that would make a difference except make more money for NCARB? I can top you're ignorant statement! While we're at it let's make the cut scores for passing the ARE higher for straight white males. That will fix those straight white males real good! Hope that thinking gets you places kid!
Sarcasm, guy, sarcasm.
Chris, your story there, fiction or not from your POV, is painfully accurate, being so strikingly similar to my journey. It certainly helps that I am white and receive many privelages that go with that, or at least am not actively discriminated against. It is often assumed I 'belong' so long as I don't let slip that I have loans etc. Because of the financial strain of the debt incurred to get as far as I have, I plan to leave the profession in the next few years, ideally temporarily but I can't say for certain. The reasons for leaving are many but the main one is financial. I can't imagine throwing in being a minority or being female on top of the class situation and functioning long term in this industry.
As much as it's great to see more diversity at the new end of the graphs presented, the long term at the other end tells a different story. Architecture continues to be a rich (white) man's game. Based on recent conversations and more thorough data, we don't seem to have a viable solution to this though we have collectively pinpointed many possible causes.
This whole agenda is ridiculous. Architecture is tough no matter who you are. This isn't about being white and male, it's about segregation that is being pushed down our throats by people that have whole lot more money than architects, and to make claims that just because a person is white and male comes with certain privileges is bogus.
I work hard, I make good money doing what I love. When I realized that a traditional job in architecture was not going to meet my expectations, I found an employer that needed my skills and stamp. To add, I didn't have a silver spoon, needed loans, couldn't travel, had to be creative in my materials for studio, and definitely didn't go to a top tier school. I have my job because I saw an opportunity to bridge a gap and sold myself, just like we're taught in school.
We need to stop this race division junk, we're humans, there are shitty people everywhere that try and keep you down. Our schooling and all the hours of sacrifice taught us to overcome and get up when you get knocked down.
I have jobs in Taiwan, South Korea, and Israel currently as well as three in the states from California to Georgia. It's not easy or comfortable and I certainly don't have any special privileges. I run into institutional roadblocks all the time, some are based on me being in a foreign country and some just because you have to deal with people that can only think one way.
Really all I'm saying is I'm not apologetic for being white or straight. If you don't like your circumstances then change them, work hard and when you get knocked down...get up. The grass isn't any greener over here.
I rarely post and just read the articles here. this site is a great way to pass the time when I'm traveling, but this got me fired up for one reason. Basing your value and potential or access to an architectural degree on race is buying into the exact thing that is segregating all of us. We are a talented bunch, no matter the race, we proved that by starting and finishing a tough degree that entails putting up with a lot of crap, and don't even get me started on licensure. Have a good day, now I need to figure out what architecture I'm going to see this trip when I'm not working.
Yep, you doing well, means everyone else should be doing well, and the sun revolves around the earth.
Racism was yesterday's problem, and doesn't exist anymore! Thank god we solved that.
@b3tadine Yes man! Racism is a huge problem in America in 2017. What we need to do is establish hiring quotas to ensure that certain groups of people get into firms at the exact ratio of their identity group in society at large. We should enact a system that breaks people down by their gender identity at any given moment, the amount of melatonin in their skin, their socio-economic background (how many times they went golfing or something), the preference for sexual partners they have, their self-identified age, their religion, and any other unique attributes that we can divide people by. That would solve racism in America.
Yawn. You bore the living fuck out of me.
Yes, bore...
I'm offended very real issues facing architecture in America bores you.
Look back at history- bussing for example and consider the long term impacts that they have had on social and cultural perceptions based on race alone. Also consider the very real risks related to gender politics and identity.
But here's the other thing- these types of programs have been administered with the assumption that integration with the larger group will make the smaller better- as long as you play by those rules. On the other side- there's a great deal of resentment and stereotyping.
Knee jerk math has never solved the long-term project of social engagement.
you can be white, straight out of trailer from BFE missing a few teeth, and because they don't take care of their teeth in England and you couldn't either due to no dental health care, you can grossly play down your hillbilly/redneck/dip dip dip accent, put on a suit and tie and walk into any office and ask for a job? --This actually worked for Don Draper, aka Dick Whitman. He become the head of creative and partner at Sterling Cooper. The guy was born to a whore. Can you believe it?!
Don Draper = Fiction
James,
Why are you attacking me? You don't even know what race/religion/gender I identify as.
You? You're a pepsexual.
"Really all I'm saying is I'm not apologetic for being white or straight. If you don't like your circumstances then change them, work hard and when you get knocked down...get up. The grass isn't any greener over here. "
Guess you're never walked into a meeting being the only non-white person in the room, and all eyes looking at each other thinking "what's the UPS guy doing here"
Wow buddy you must perceive racism a lot! I hope the AIA passes rules to help you
James,
The arguments posted within this thread were primarily centered more around class than race, for the record cnc.
Aggregately white males tend to control more funds than any other demographic thus call the shots, know/are the clients etc. This is where the race part comes in. To ignore the fact that the US has a past mired in and built off of slavery, genocide and imperialism, and that has nothing to do with distribution of wealth, well you're just being ignorant at that point. Yes there are lower class white folks like myself or you who can/have made the socioeconomic leap, but I imagine it's a lot easier to do when people assume we're already in the 'club' either literal golf and yacht clubs, or the general good ole boys club. Vs even an upper middle class or wealthy black male or female being assumed to be the 'help' rather than the one leading a meeting. That's a constant and real struggle that you or I don't have to endure. Writing it off as nonexistent is the issue and one of the reasons so many leave the field. In addition to the less than stellar financial payoff.
Yes, I have not seen any representation from female or trans gendered individuals in this discussion. We should recruit more of them into this chat, or at least pause it until there is fair and equal outcome in the discussion.
@achinine- they were? The ncarb data is based on race, not class. In your opinion, when did this shift occur from race to class (curious)? Many of your points are applicable, just noting the shift.
Let's not forget the counterpart to this, which is a conversation on gender diversity sparked by the mess at google.
Heres the ASLA Diversity Summit report for reference.
and this just in...
http://archinect.com/news/arti...
This kind of racial mocking is endorsed by Archinect. But any other views are banned or censored. Please reconsider the way this community functions.
Racial mocking, poor, poor put upon white people, a photo, of a white man crying, really triggers you snowflakes.
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