Post-Meier, the AIA has centered its efforts to stop sexual harassment by affirming good behavior in the profession. It’s using positive reinforcement to address sexual harassment and discrimination by saying the best work emerges from firms that embody equitable practices, and using that as the foundation of its strategy to incentivize better behavior. — Curbed
Curbed's Diana Budds takes a deep dive into the efforts being undertaken within the architecture community to eradicate sexual harassment in the workplace in the wake of the #MeToo movement.
According to the report, although the American Institute of Architects (AIA) has worked to update its Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct, the organization has largely avoided taking punitive measures in their efforts to reform the profession's workplace culture. The report brings into question the effectiveness of AIA's current role in addressing delicate and difficult issues like workplace harassment, and whether architectural workers might be better served through the existence of a more official "secondary avenues" for reporting harassment, abuse, and other ethics issues.
The reactive approach, according to Gabrielle Bullock, director of global diversity at Perkins and Will and a member of the AIA’s Equity in Architecture commission, is to be expected. Bullock told Curbed, “The AIA is going to lead with what their members want and so they’re almost always reacting. Most member organizations are in a reactive mode when it comes to the issues. They’re more proactive in continuing education, and providing resources. The ‘good’ stuff.”
2 Comments
The AIA isn't the police. nor should it be the arbiter of the architecture profession
guess what, the a-holes tended to be exactly who and where we thought they were. sorry if it's not as many as the media would prefer, but have you tried looking at real estate developers, journalists, engineers, politicians, wall st execs etc?
I would love to see Curbed expose some NY real estate developers. If they have the guts to bite the hand that feeds. Easy to go after people downstream from the $$
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