Empowering Women in Architecture: A Study in India

Council of Architecture, India data of 2018 shows clearly that the growth of number of registered architects is very slow till 2014 since 2003, we have marked a sudden spurt of the same from 2015 till 2017 again a sudden fall in the year 2018 in India. While women graduate from architecture schools at near parity with men, less than 20 percent become licensed practitioners. In the field of architecture women face a lot of gender discrimination in terms of retention, promotion, earnings, access to seniority, leadership opportunities or belief that their contribution has been taken seriously. One of the most peculiar things about architectural practice is the range of non-merit based factors that may determine the successful practice start up and expansion access to the dominant socio-economic patronage group, access to capital, access to social networks, access to alternative income streams while the practice is being established, the social advantage of the old school tie or family connections, and even more personal factors like physical attractiveness, charisma and romantic partners. Of course few women have broken this gendered barrier and came out successfully in their business. But in most of the cases enabling and motivational factors are not available. Marxist feminism weds theory to practice and encourages us to rethink the relationship between architecture schools and the larger professional world. By linking individuals to systems, feminism allows us to perceive structural limitations and to envision dissolving barriers.