Being a Woman in Landscape Architecture

As someone who identifies as female, the very real disparities women tend to experience within the working world is something I have anticipated for a long time. I have done some research and mulled over my own experiences in order to prepare myself for what I can expect when I enter the landscape architecture profession.

From my view, being a woman within landscape architecture is a mostly positive experience, as the Landscape Journal reports there are only 6.84% more men than women and this differential has been reducing each year over the past five. I often see female landscape architects in positions of influence, speaking mostly to women at my university careers fair. As said by Wendy Miller (President of the American Society of Landscape Architects) during an interview, ‘seeing women in places that have been generally dominated by men gives other women a sense that they belong and can move up the career ladder to more responsibility and control of their destiny’. This can be seen in the likes of Brenda Colvin CBE, the first female president of the Landscape Institute (LI), and the following presidents, Dame Sylvia Crowe, Professor Kathryn Moore, and Sue Illman. The Landscape Institute created a six page article, detailing nine inspirational female landscape architects to celebrate its 90^th anniversary. Within this, they discussed how landscape architecture provided women in the early and mid-twentieth century the possibility of leading independent professional lives and when Colvin established her practice in 1922, it preceded equal votes for all women.

First page of the Landscape Institute article

However, gender inequality is a widespread issue, not unique to this profession, and so it can be seen in many ways. Whilst the four female presidents of the LI are incredibly inspirational, they are only four out 42, demonstrating huge disparity. Moreover, the Chair of the LI’s Diversity and Inclusion Working Group observed that ‘although there is no gender balance inequality at entry level, the gender pay gap at a higher salary widens and the number of women represented in the membership at that level diminishes’. These challenges are also mentioned by Miller, who identifies systemic biases, such as inflexible work hours, lack of paid family leave and pay inequity, as well as not receiving equal acknowledgement for contributions, as issues that can prevent women from moving forward. I have also experienced an element of this inequality within university – out of a list of 21 landscape architects we were asked to look up, only three of them were women.

Overall, from the limited experience I have within the profession, it is a relatively equal field, and much more inclusive than many others. However, as gender inequality is a wider issue, it is something I will no doubt encounter throughout my career. The Landscape Institute detailed the characteristics they felt the nine inspirational women share: ‘A determined, energetic nature and a passion for landscape. A forward, internationalist outlook with a desire for team work, including beyond their own profession. An ability to communicate about their work and advancing theories in the written, spoken or audio form. An optimism for the potential of landscape architecture to foster sustainable development.’. These are all characteristics I hope to develop and project into my career, in the hopes of overcoming any disparity I may face.   

References

Fitzsimon, K. (2019) ‘Nine Decades, Nine Inspiring Women in Landscape Architecture’, Landscape Journal. 8 (3), pp. 51-56

Presley, B. (2020) Busting Up the Boy’s Club: How You Can Encourage More Women to Pursue Landscape Architecture. Available at: https://www.totallandscapecare.com/business/article/15042515/encouraging-more-women-to-pursue-landscape-architecture (Accessed: 30 March 2021)