On International Women’s Day Becca talks about unhelpful labels and why practice leaders must ‘be the change’ that will make the profession a more equitable place to work. This was first published in Architect’s Journal and you can find more opinion pieces there.
I’ve never been a big fan of the clunky and cute-sy portmanteaux created to describe women in business, much as I never wanted to be a ‘female architect’. We note it because it is still unusual. Terms such as ‘mumpreneur’ also belittle successful business owners and parents, or pass comment on age and maturity (‘girl boss’ and ‘boss babe’).
Of all the descriptors though, lady architect is one of my least favourite.
It’s a descriptor I would never use about myself and it’s part of the low-level and difficult-to-pin-down sexism that still runs through certain parts of the construction industry. Sometimes there’s outright aggression; but more often, in my experience, it’s passive.
It’s being talked over; it’s being disbelieved; it’s having others take credit for your ideas; it’s having your maternity leave referred to as ‘holiday’. It’s nothing and everything to women working in our industry.
The world changes too slowly. The Equal Pay Act (1970) and the Equalities Act (2010) should enshrine rights in law, but their impact doesn’t reach far enough. Each of the shitty (or simply frustrating) behaviours I’ve experienced from others becomes a provocation to create a better, more intersectional workplace.
Architecture has a well-documented problem with inclusivity, from poverty wages and gender pay gaps to the significant drop-out of women and people of colour from the profession. And the organisations which should lead the charge appear to support and uphold the damaging status quo.
So, on International Women’s Day I’m calling on practice directors across the industry to ‘be the change’. Either start or continue to strive to find ways to push the structures and upend expectations against this background of inaction.
Instead of ignoring expertise from unexpected places, let’s listen to each other and allow space for new perspectives, new people and new ideas through all our projects.
Instead of side-stepping disagreements, let’s build relationships which can handle difficult conversations and have them kindly and with care.
Instead of shouting about how great we are, let’s aim for a radical honesty when presenting our work. Let’s talk about the structures we benefit from and how luck and good timing are vital ingredients in success. We support everyone on our team to be a public voice of the practice if they want to and to present the process as much as the finished outcome. Architecture is in the journey, not just in the pretty pictures at the end.
It’s not that my experiences as a woman are irrelevant to my work, but they are just one aspect of the patchwork of experiences and identities that makes our practice – a women and LGBTQ+-led practice – sensitive and responsive placemakers. Our experiences, our identities and our ways of moving through space shape us all as practitioners. The joy of being a woman in construction, in architecture, in creative practice is bringing that to make better spaces for all of us.
But it doesn’t make me your woman-founder, a boss babe, a girl boss, a mumpreneur, or your lady architect.