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There has been much discussion raised about "Why are women leaving Architecture? and more broadly, Why is the profession losing key talent?"  Both women and men practitioners are disillusioned by the myth of work/life balance: Women are grappling with "have it all" expectations of juggling family time with the demands of full-time work.  Men are struggling to support their families solely on an architect's salary and fall back on asking spouses to maintain their jobs. The lack of affordable childcare and high cost of living only magnifies the challenges.  How did we end up in this modern family dilemma? What can we do to improve the situation?

From Groundbreaking to Ceiling Shattering: What's Next?

The Equity in Architecture Survey 2014 closed this past Monday, March 24th with nearly 2300 responses (more than double of our original goal of 1000!).  We received positive comments, encouragement and supporters as well as a lot of constructive feedback on how to improve the survey questions for our next go around.  We made many new friends along the way, through Twitter, Linked In, and Facebook.  It has been an amazing journey to get to this milestone of closing the survey, and yet our work has just begun.  Luckily, eating our whale seams less daunting with 2300 more diners at the table.

If you would like to continue being a part of this research study, there are many ways to help and we would appreciate your continued support and participation.

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Equity in Architecture Survey - Extended to Monday March 24th

UPDATE! The Equity in Architecture Survey has been extended to Monday, March 24, 2014. It will officially close at end of business day at 5:00pm PST  Please encourage your firm, colleagues, friends and alumni to take the survey earlier if possible. If you have started the survey, but have not completed it, you can log back in from the SAME computer and continue where you left off.  You need to submit the survey completed to qualify for the drawing.

To take the survey or find out more about it. Click the link below.

www.themissing32percent.com/survey

Must we "Lean In" or "Opt Out"? Keep Calm and Let's Mambo!

Last Friday, I read The Washington Post, She the People article by Rosa Brooks entitled "Why I hate Sheryl Sandberg" ending with a bravado "Manifestus for the rest of us".  Brooks, whose piece went viral, proposes a revolutionary proposition: Before all the "Leaning In" causes burn out, opting out, and self-sabotage of their careers (resulting in even fewer women in the workforce), women should "Recline" and declare limits for themselves in our increasingly "Maxed Out" world. It’s an epiphany she came to realize while “marking up a memo on U.S. drone policy while simultaneously ordering a custom-decorated cake for my daughter’s sixth grade musical cast party and planning my remarks for a roundtable on women in national security.”

And as I read this, I couldn't help but laugh (nervously) and think that while humorous and entertaining, much of what my namesake was saying was sadly true (and parallel to certain events in my own journey!). The harder we try to please and prove societal biases wrong, the harder we fall at failing to "have it all".  But, why is it that in this failure to achieve the impossible, women start blaming other women for taking polar opposite positions in the "Leaning In" OR "Opting Out" debate. No good will come out of it.

Why do we need to take one side over the other? If we are to survive and succeed in Life's Career Marathon, we (both women and men) would be in a better position with a mindset of striking a balance between "Leaning In" and "Reclining".  How about the Mambo, for instance?

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