Women in Architecture: Progress, Gaps, and the Work Still Ahead

Each year, International Women's Day brings renewed attention to questions of gender within many professional fields, architecture among them. Public conversations often centre on celebrating prominent figures or highlighting notable projects, moments that briefly illuminate the contributions of women within the discipline. Over the past several decades, the architectural profession has undergone gradual shifts that have expanded opportunities and broadened participation, even as longstanding structures continue to shape how careers develop and how architectural work becomes visible. Project-based distinctions often reveal a somewhat broader distribution of recognition. Awards such as the Aga Khan Award for Architecture and the EU Mies van der Rohe Award typically recognise built projects and multidisciplinary teams rather than individual authors. Recent editions of the EU Mies van der Rohe Award and the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, for instance, have featured juries approaching gender parity.