Women build to last

As part of Women’s History Month, the City of Sydney will hold an event dedicated to women in architecture and the first female architect Florence Mary Taylor.

Architectural historian Dr Bronwyn Hanna will talk about the traditional role women in architecture and open up discussions on the role of female architects today. The public event will be at Surry Hills Library tonight (Thursday, March 8) from 6 to 7pm.

Ms Taylor was the first female architect in Sydney and she designed over 50 buildings across the city. Dr Hanna said despite her extraordinary story, Ms Taylor has sadly been overlooked in the history books. “My theory is that women tend to disappear from history: there were 260 female architects practising in Australia before 1960 and I didn’t know about any of them – except for Florence – and I had been studying in the field for 10 years,” she said.

While discussions will focus on Ms Taylor’s humble beginnings and her place in Sydney’s architectural story, Women’s History Month is also an opportunity to explore the role women currently occupy within the profession.

Despite graduating in equal numbers to men, women architects occupy less than one per cent of board level roles. Dr Sandra O’Grady, Professor of Architecture at the University of Sydney, said Australia is very much behind in implementing HR policies that encourage women’s participation in the industry. “There are many reasons why women leave the profession. Work/life balance is one, but the myriad subtle ways in which a male-dominated culture reproduces itself through promotion and networking is also a big deterrent,” Dr O’Grady said.

“I am concerned that women architects continue to be overlooked for inclusion in the contemporary vehicles of award, discussion, and acclaim, such as conference lineups and feature articles in magazines,” Dr O’Grady said.

Dr O’Grady is part of an Australian Research Council-funded study aimed at developing strategies to maximise female participation in architecture. It has been suggested that a comprehensive paid parental leave scheme is a crucial step in allowing women to advance in the industry.

Former University of Sydney Women’s Officer and Union activist Hannah Goldstein said a lack of adequate paid parental leave remains a major hurdle for women in the workplace, particularly in male-dominated professions such as architecture. “Any industry that wants to retain the talents of women must look at implementing a paid parental leave scheme that goes above and beyond the current 18 weeks provided in the legislation,” Ms Goldstein said.

By Rebecca Cleaver