AIA San Francisco’s Equity by Design (AIASF’s EQxD) committee released the early findings from its 2016 Equity in Architecture Survey during its fourth (sold-out) symposium, Equity by Design: Metrics, Meaning, and Matrices, held on Oct. 29 at the San Francisco Art Institute. The results, organized into two frameworks—career dynamics, or the challenges and perceptions of working in the profession; and career pinch points, the milestones that make or break one’s advancement—show an underrepresentation of women and minorities in leadership roles and a clear gender pay gap regardless of one’s experience and title. Moreover, the survey identifies the specific predictors of one’s success in architecture.
Meet Rosa Sheng, AIA, the woman at the helm of Equity by Design (EQxD), an AIA San Francisco committee formerly known as The Missing 32% Project). Not only is she a tireless advocate for gender and racial equity in the architectural profession, she is also a senior associate at Bohlin Cywinski Jackson's San Francisco office. In this episode, Sheng discusses how she overcame her fear of public speaking, returning to the workplace after becoming a mother, why she almost left the profession—but didn't—and how she attempts to achieve the impossible: work–life balance.