Study: Architecture has diversity woes [ US ]

| echoes a similar situation in India, we
| haven't seen many Muslim and other minority students in
| architecture either.
|
| now where is UPA? don't they need to impose another
| dreaded quota here? and where are the shrill NGO?
| actually, we prefer a systematic research into the
| demographies of the profession,...

 BOSTON - Minorities constitute roughly 15 percent of all architects in 
the United States, according to a newly released study by the American 
Institute of Architects.

U.S. Census Bureau data indicates that of the 192,860 architects in this 
country, 20.3 percent are women, 2.7 percent are black, 5.6 percent are 
Hispanic, 6.3 percent are Asian, and 0.3 percent are American Indian.

Leaders in the field pin some of the underrepresentation on the 
industry's lack of efforts to draw minorities while they're young.

"African-American overachievers are courted by many colleges and 
professions," says Kate Schwennsen, president of the American Institute 
of Architects. "Architecture is not doing as well as we could."

"While they are happy to accept minority students, most design schools 
make no effort to recruit them," adds Theodore Landsmark, president of 
the Boston Architectural Center. "Nearly half of African-Americans (in 
architecture) graduate from only seven of the 115 programs in the 
country - the historically black colleges in the South."

At North Carolina State University's College of Design, roughly 7 
percent to 8 percent of undergraduates across architecture and the 
college's other disciplines are minorities, says Marva Motley, the 
college's assistant dean for student affairs.

Motley says the university recognizes the diversity challenge. But 
increasing the number of minority students is difficult, she says. 
Architecture remains a discipline not universally viewed as viable 
career for various reasons, she says, including socio-economic forces.

The college offers summer design camps created to expose high school 
students, particularly students from under-represented rural areas and 
ethic backgrounds, to design.

"School is very expensive for anybody, and you don't make a lot of money 
when you finish," says M. David Lee, adjunct professor in planning and 
urban design at the Harvard Graduate School of Design and principal at 
Stull and Lee Inc. in Boston.

The Army Corps of Engineers and the Department of Housing and Urban 
Development, for example, offer starting salaries at approximately 
$45,000 - $10,000 to $15,000 higher than starting salaries offered by 
private firms.

In addition, architects employed by the feds do not need a license to 
move up the ranks. In private practice, architects work about three 
years before they earn a license and promotions.