Dimensions of Gender: Women’s Careers in the Australian Architecture Profession Gillian Mary Matthewson BArch, University of Auckland MA in Architecture, University of East London A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at The University of Queensland in 2015 School of Architecture Abstract Statistics on women in the architecture profession in Australia tell a story of women having truncated careers, limited longevity in the profession, and relative invisibility, despite significant and longstanding contributions. While Dana Cuff argues that the career path for all architects is fraught with uncertainty, gender appears to figure powerfully in making a career in architecture even more difficult for women.1 The situation is not well understood, since previous research has tended to draw on simple statistical counts, surveys, and anecdotal reportage—methods that are not necessarily subtle enough to investigate gendered practices in depth. However, research from other fields, particularly those investigating gender and the professions more broadly, reveals that architecture, while perhaps an extreme case, is not alone in its patterns of women’s participation. The fact that this has been rarely drawn upon within the field of architecture points to a significant gap in current knowledge regarding the impact of gender in the profession. Gaining a deeper understanding of this situation was a major impetus behind the Australian Research Council–funded Linkage Project: “Equity and Diversity in the Australian Architecture Profession: Women, Work and Leadership (2011–2014),” of which this dissertation forms a discrete part. This thesis contributes to knowledge by examining the complexity of gender in the Australian architecture profession through two main strategies, combining quantitative and qualitative methods in a complementary manner. The first strategy involves depicting the macro-scale patterns of women’s participation in the profession in Australia more comprehensively than has been done before, by developing an analysis from a wider range of statistical data than are usually sourced. It finds that, although women are present in greater numbers than usually cited, the growth of women’s participation is markedly slower than previously predicted, at a rate that lags behind other professions, and that is distorted by certain peculiarities in the architecture profession. This quantitative analysis strengthens the case that there are gendering processes shaping architectural careers, and indicates those points at which women tend to disappear over the course of a career in architecture. Building on the first research strategy, the second and larger part of the dissertation mobilises methods rarely deployed to investigate gender in architecture in Australia; specifically, interviews and workplace observation. Drawing upon seventy interviews held in three large commercial architecture practices, and observation in offices in Sydney and Brisbane, the dissertation seeks to illuminate the social construction of gender in the Australian architecture profession. It uses an 1 Dana Cuff, Architecture: The Story of Practice (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1991), 137. ii analytical framework developed by Joan Acker and others to investigate how gender silently structures the profession forming a gendered substructure. In using this framework to analyse the experiences of both women and men working in architecture, the dissertation is able to highlight the priorities, practices, and ideologies that generate gender inequities in the contemporary architecture profession. It reveals the degree to which a series of taken-for-granted structural and cultural conditions and interactions permit and reproduce gender inequity in career advancement in architecture. iii Declaration by author This thesis is composed of my original work, and contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference has been made in the text. I have clearly stated the contribution by others to jointly-authored works that I have included in my thesis. I have clearly stated the contribution of others to my thesis as a whole, including statistical assistance, survey design, data analysis, significant technical procedures, professional editorial advice, and any other original research work used or reported in my thesis. The content of my thesis is the result of work I have carried out since the commencement of my research higher degree candidature and does not include a substantial part of work that has been submitted to qualify for the award of any other degree or diploma in any university or other tertiary institution. I have clearly stated which parts of my thesis, if any, have been submitted to qualify for another award. I acknowledge that an electronic copy of my thesis must be lodged with the University Library and, subject to the policy and procedures of The University of Queensland, the thesis be made available for research and study in accordance with the Copyright Act 1968 unless a period of embargo has been approved by the Dean of the Graduate School. I acknowledge that copyright of all material contained in my thesis resides with the copyright holder(s) of that material. Where appropriate I have obtained copyright permission from the copyright holder to reproduce material in this thesis. iv Publications during candidature Peer-Reviewed Journal Article Matthewson, Gill. “‘Nothing Else Will Do’: The Call for Gender Equality in Architecture in Britain." Architectural Theory Review 17, no. 2–3 (2012): 245–59, doi:10.1080/13264826 .2012.730172. Journal Article Matthewson, Gill. “Women in Architecture: Who Counts?" In “Dossier: The State of Gender Equity in Australia,” edited by Naomi Stead, Architecture Australia, 5 (September 2014): 54–57. http://architectureau.com/articles/counting-women/. Peer-Reviewed Conference Paper Matthewson, Gill. “Architect Barbie through the Looking Glass: Gender, Identity and Architecture.” In Fabulation: Myth, Nature, Proceedings of the 29th Annual SAHANZ Conference, edited by Stuart King, Anuradha Chatterjee, and Stephen Loo. Launceston: SAHANZ, 2012. Conference Paper Stead, Naomi and Gill Matthewson. “Creative Differences: Constructions of Gender, Identity and Creativity in Three Large Australian Architecture Offices.” Paper presented at Gender, Work and Organisation, 8th Biennial International Interdisciplinary Conference, Keele, UK, June 2014. Book Chapter Roan, Amanda and Gill Matthewson. “Challenges and Change in the Architecture Profession: Demonstrating Uncertain Futures through the Struggle for Gender Equity.” In Professions Under Pressure, edited by Adrian Wilkinson, Donald Hislop, Maree Boyle, and Christine Coupland. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, forthcoming. Matthewson, Gill, Naomi Stead and Karen Burns, “Women and Leadership in the Australian Architectural Profession: Prolegomena to a Research Project.” In Seizing the Initiative: Australian Women Leaders in Politics, Workplaces and Communities, edited by Rosemary Francis, Patricia Grimshaw, and Ann Standish, 247–61. Melbourne: eScholarship Research Centre, The University of Melbourne, 2012. http://www.womenaustralia.info/leaders/sti /pdfs/17_MatthewsonSteadBurns.pdf. Magazine Matthewson, Gill. “Same Words, Different Mouth.” (Wellington) Architecture Centre Newsletter. (July/October, 2013): 6. Colloquium Roan, Amanda, Justine Clark, and Gill Matthewson. “Understanding Women’s Under- Representation in Architectural Careers: Re-Thinking Professional Registration, v Occupational Closure and Marginalisation.” Paper presented at the 30th EGOS Colloquium “Reimagining, Rethinking, Reshaping: Organizational Scholarship in Unsettled Times,” Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 2014. On-line Publications Matthewson, Gill. “Studying Gender and the Profession.” Parlour: women, equity, architecture. March 6, 2012. http://archiparlour.org/gills-research/. Matthewson, Gill. “Architect Barbie and Vitruvius.” Parlour: women, equity, architecture. March 6, 2012. http://archiparlour.org/gill-architect-barbie/. Matthewson, Gill. “The Numbers So Far.” Parlour: women, equity, architecture. April 14, 2012. http://archiparlour.org/the-numbers-so-far/. Matthewson, Gill. “Why Bother?” Parlour: women, equity, architecture. April 14, 2012. http://archiparlour.org/where-do-you-go-to/. Matthewson, Gill. “Angie the Architects Meets Rosie the Riveter.” Parlour: women, equity, architecture. November 8, 2012. http://www.archiparlour.org/angie-the-architect-meets- rosie-the-riveter/. Matthewson, Gill. “Counting Registered Architects: No Easy Matter.” Parlour: women, equity, architecture. January 9, 2013. http://archiparlour.org/counting-registered-architects-no-easy- matter/. Matthewson, Gill. “Updating the Numbers, Part 1: At School.” Parlour: women, equity, architecture. January 29, 2013. http://archiparlour.org/updating-the-numbers-at-school/. Matthewson, Gill. “Updating the Numbers, Part 2: At Work.” Parlour: women, equity, architecture. January 28, 2013. http://archiparlour.org/updating-the-numbers-part-2-at-work/. Matthewson, Gill. “Updating the Numbers, Part 3: Institute Membership.” Parlour: women, equity, architecture. February 10, 2013. http://archiparlour.org/updating-the-numbers-part-3- institute-membership/. Matthewson, Gill. “Architecture and the Goldilocks Syndrome.” Parlour: women, equity, architecture. June 7, 2013. http://archiparlour.org/architecture-and-the-goldilocks- syndrome/. Clark, Justine and Gill Matthewson. “The ‘Half-Life’ of Women