I am in my last semester of the graduate program here at the UF School of Architecture.
Looking back, I have had a great education in how to design a building, but with regard to where architecture fits into the context of our country and culture, it is striking how under represented women are in the curriculum, guest speakers and faculty.
In four years at the SoA, I have had three female professors. When assigned precedent studies to research, less than 3 percent were buildings designed by women.
In classes where current practicing architects were called in to speak, in some cases weekly, less than 2 percent have been women.
Also, in the UF SoA lecture series there is again an imbalance.
I believe this experience to be disproportionate to the contribution that women have been making to the profession for close to 500 years.
In 2011, the National Architectural Accrediting Board reported that 41 percent of architecture degrees were earned by women, and 20 percent of licensed architects in the US were women.
We have a dedicated and talented faculty in the SoA, and my intention is not to impugn the efforts already being made by them and the university to address this issue.
Instead I want to share my personal experience and express my concern for the cultural messages and externalities which are intrinsically associated with this imbalance.
A version of this letter to the editor ran on page 7 on 1/31/2014 under the headline "Women underrepresented in UF School of Architecture"]
