Modern and Post-modern Women in Landscape Architecture and the Barriers they have/had to overcome. June 2007 Modern and Post-modern Women in Landscape Architecture and the Barriers they have/had to overcome. A Senior Project/Thesis Presented to the Faculty of the Landscape Architecture Program at the University of California, Davis in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree of Bachelors of Science of Landscape Architecture. Accepted and Approved by: Faculty Committee Member, Heath Schenker Faculty Committee Member, Elizabeth Boults Committee Member, Cathy Sim Committee Member, Gloria Bakerian Faculty Senior Project Advisor, Mark Francis By Julia Riggins June 2007 Abstract The profession of landscape architecture is expected to experience expanded growth in the future while at the same time student enrollment in landscape architecture programs is thought to be declining. This dilemma could lead to a decline in services and growth due to a lack of qualified landscape architects available to meet demands. This study’s research objectives include providing baseline information regarding current and past female landscape architecture barriers and to describe influential factors and reasons associated with these obstacles. This study will present and describe the findings from the research analysis and outline suggestions for students, landscape architecture programs, and the landscape architecture profession. This study is important and timely because it provides needed baseline information about landscape architecture women that can be used by landscape architecture departments and professionals in their strategies to increase female involvement. “I feel there is something unexplored about women that only a woman can explore.” ‐Georgia O’Keefe Biographical Sketch “We must be the change we want to see in the world.” ‐ Mahatma Gandhi Julia Riggins was born in Lübeck, Germany in 1981. She always enjoyed plants and gardening since she was a young girl. Her early education was taught in the European school‐system until she moved to America in September of 1996. She graduated from Novato High School, (Novato, Ca), in June 2000 after getting married that April. The following year she started her higher education at Solano Community College with a few selected classes at Napa Valley College and College of Marin. In March 2003, she gave birth to her daughter Angelina Rose. She transferred to the University of California, Davis in September 2004 after she was accepted into the landscape architecture program. She is an active ASLA Student Chapter member and has participated in notable activities such as LaBash 2007 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and is involved with the ASLA Northern Chapter. She is planning to be a leader in positioning landscape architecture as the critical environmental planning and design profession of the future ‐ a profession that can solve pressing environmental problems, protect natural and cultural heritage, and create a better world for the future. She wants to assure that landscape architects are on equal footing (licensure, job classifications, pay, etc.) with other professions. In addition, she wants to encourage bright young minds to seek to become landscape architects and to create yet‐unimagined landscapes to meet future needs. Finally, she plans to promote a profession whose diversity more closely reflects the public who use the landscapes we create. ii Dedication I dedicate this research to all the women on this planet. Thanks to all of those who laid the steppingstone for my generation—may we not fail to pass it on to our children. May this research provide the knowledge and strength to women who face barriers in their profession and life. Lisa M. Severino, teacher of Women's Studies at Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio published ‘WHAT IS FEMINISM?’ I believe feminism is HOPE. It is a belief that we can change. It is a dream of equality, of love, of community. Feminism is a respect – a respect of women, a respect of humanity, a respect of life. Feminism is the life force of the universe – the blue print for procreation. Feminism is a culture – a renewed society. A united society. Feminism is healthy. Feminism is breaking the silence and stopping the violence. Feminism is a reality. It is our past, our present, and our future. Feminism is Earth. It is abstract and concrete all at once. Feminism is beautiful, yet not limited to any standards of beauty. Feminism is self-awareness, self-confidence, self-respect, and self-protection. Feminism is about the self. Feminism is responsibility. Feminism is consciousness, yet must be taught to the unconscious. Feminism is the mind, the body, the soul. Feminism is POWER. Feminism has no sense of color. Feminism has no gender. Feminism has no age. Feminism is hope… Frida Kahlo, Roots "We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men and women are created equal." ‐Declaration of Sentiments, Seneca Falls Convention iii Acknowledgements I would like to thank all the people that provided direction, support, and encouragement throughout this process and its related procedures. In particular, I would like to express my true gratitude to the following people: My family for providing support and encouragement in my choice to become a landscape architect: My dad, for giving me all the technical support and more. My mom for being by my side during late nights. iv My husband for trying to understand and support me. And my beautiful daughter who made me strong and gave me the courage to finish with college. Because she is in my life I considered the topic for this research. v In addition, personal expressions of gratitude go to my sister and best friend Gloria for all her emotional, skilled and educational help as well as her thought‐provoking, encouraging input. Although this thesis is primarily the work of one individual, it would have not been possible without the guidance and support of the members of my committee, Heath Schenker, Elizabeth Boults, Catherine Sim, and Gloria Bakerian. Many thanks for your timely reviews and helpful comments. It would be impossible to consider this thesis complete without thanking Catherine Sim for her expertise in English grammar and punctuation. Professor Heath Schenker for providing excellent guidance, advice, and mentorship. Elizabeth Boults for taking extra time to go over things with me. Mark Francis for his patience, information, and help. To all the professors and students of the UC Davis Landscape Architecture Program that helped and supported me in this study. vi Finally, I must thank a particular colleague who has been instrumental in the completion of this thesis and the landscape architecture program. For support at all levels, I would fail if I did not acknowledge the help of a great friend, Veronica Breien. THANK YOU! vii Table of Contents Title Page Abstract Bibliographical Sketch ii Dedication iii Acknowledgements iv‐vii Table of Contents viii‐x List of Illustrations, Photographs, Tables xi‐xii Preface (Importance or Significance of Study) xiii Chapter 1: Introduction 1 Problem Statement 1 Objectives 3 Chapter 2: What is landscape architecture? 4 The Roots of the Landscape Architecture Profession 4 Chapter 3: What are landscape architects? What do they do? 11 Different Practices in the Profession 13 Timeline of landscape architecture 17 viii Chapter 4: Women’s history in landscape architecture 21 The Culture of Horticulture and Gardening 21 Chapter 5: Women in the field of landscape architecture & some biographies 27 UC Davis Landscape Architecture women faculty 27 Other great Landscape Architecture women 31 Chapter 6: Personal barriers 50 Chapter 7: Cultural barriers 58 Women of different ethnicities 63 Profiles of UC First‐Time Freshman Applicants, Admits and Enrollments: Information Source and Data Definitions 74 Campus Trends 1995‐2002: Davis 76 Chapter 8: Educational barriers 79 Tenure 88 Chapter 9: Economical barriers 96 Chapter 10: Political barriers 105 Chapter 11: Resources 110 ix Chapter 12: Conclusion 118 What must be done: A Blueprint for Action 121 Bibliography 123 Web‐site Resources 129 Appendixes 131 A: Accredited Undergrad. Programs in Landscape Architecture 131 x List of Illustrations, Photographs, Tables TABLE 1 Population, Income, Education, and UC Eligibility by Ethnicity 70 TABLE 2 Underrepresented Minorities as a percentage of new UC Ca Resident Freshmen and CA Public High School Graduates 1980, 1985, 1990 and 1995 71 TABLE 3 Measures of Access for Admitted students at the Six Selective Campuses from 2001-2003 75 TABLE 4 Number of Applications, Admits and Enrollment For ELC and Non-ELC California Residents by campus and Ethnicity 78 TABLE 5 Employment comparison compared to education levels 82 TABLE 6 University of California and Public Salary Comparison Institutions – Student Fee 85 TABLE 7 Percentage of Women in Faculty Positions, by Sector, 2005-06 89 TABLE 8 UC Tenure vs. Non-Tenure University-wide and at UC Davis 93 TABLE 9 Gender Perspectives 97 TABLE 10 Women’s average Salary as a Percentage of Men’s 104 ILLUSTRATIONS Capability Brown’s proposal plan for Petworth, 1752, West Sussex Record Office, PHA 5177 (photo: Beaver Photography; reproduced by permission of Lord Egremont) 5 Humphry Repton’s watercolor view of the Rosarium and fountain at Ashridge, Hertfordshire, from Fragments on the Theory and Practice of Landscape Gardening (London,1816) 6 Frederick Law Olmsted (1822–1903) 7 New forms of designed landscapes 7 Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. 9 Park (Tree-lined path) 9 Landscape