The National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) recently released preliminary data from its annual “By The Numbers,” report, focusing on the architecture industry’s demographics. The 2018 edition shows incremental improvement in racial diversity and the representation of women, reports Diana Budds for Curbed.
Forty-five percent of new Architectural Experience Program participants—an important early-career milestone on the path to licensure—identify as nonwhite. That represents a 3 percent increase from the 2017 report. While that statistic is encouraging, nonwhite architecture professionals are 25 percent more likely to stop pursuing licensure.
Mike Armstrong, CEO of NCARB, attributes the rise in diverse young professionals to a number of factors. “The economy is pulling more people into the profession, we’ve improved our outreach to students around the country, and there’s growing diversity among architecture students,” he tells Curbed. “As part of an ongoing effort to make the path to licensure more inclusive, NCARB eliminated several unnecessary hurdles to navigating the AXP.”
Women represent 43 percent of new NCARB record holders—a statistic that reflects the demographics of young professionals—which remains the same as last year. Women represent 20 percent of certificate holders—a credential for licensed architects—which is a 1 percent increase from last year. Attrition rates are improving: While the rate of women achieving licensure is still low, the rate of women leaving the profession or deciding not to pursue a license is also decreasing.
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