User:Joy iliya/Black women in architecture

Black women in architecture represent less than 0.3% of the population of licensed architects in the United States. According to the Directory of African American Architects there are currently a total of 2287 licensed architects who identify as African American, only 462 are women. Architecture has been a male dominated profession since it officially became a profession in 1857. A quote by the Late Zaha Hadid once said “For a woman to go out alone in architecture is still very, very hard, It’s still a man’s world.”

Early Pioneers

 * 1) Beverly Loraine Greene, (1915-1957) according to The BlackPast was the first black female architect in the United States. She graduated from the University of Illinois with a Bachelor of Science degree in Architectural Engineering (1936) and a Masters degree in City planning and Housing (1937).
 * 2) Norma Merrick Sklarek, (1928-2012) in 1954 became the first black female licensed architect in the United States and New York, she later became the first African American woman in California to earn an architecture license, in 1962 and was the first black woman to become a member of the American Institute of Architecture (AIA). Sklarek received her Bachelors of Science in Architecture degree from Columbia University School of Architecture in 1950.
 * 3) Georgia Louise Harris Brown, (1918–1999) is the second black woman in the United States to earn an architecture license in 1949. In 1944 she became the first black woman to obtain a Bachelors degree in architecture from the University of Kansas.
 * 4) Alma Carlisle, (1927-) is an Architectural historian and preservationist who graduated with a Bachelors in Architecture from Howard University in 1950.

Modern Pioneers

 * 1) Bullock, Gabrielle, is the director and head of global diversity at Perkins+Will, and president of the International Interior Design Association (IIDA)’s. Bullock became the second black woman to earn a degree in architecture from Rhode Island School of Design in 1984.
 * 2) Allison Williams, according to her Linkedin is an alumna of University of California with a Bachelors degree in Practice of Art (1972) and a Masters in Architecture (1976). In 1986, Williams enrolled into Havard Graduate School of Design and earned her degree a year later. Her places of practice and experience include, SOM, Perkins + Will, and AECOM, and her self founded firm AGWms _studios.
 * 3) Elsie Owusu, is a Ghanaian-British architect, who Streatham and Clapham High School in London. Owosu serves as the current Vice-Chair of the London School of Architecture, with some notable projects which includes the refurbishment of the UK Supreme Courts and the creation of the master plan for the Green Park Station in London.
 * 4) Tiffany Brown, is the 400th African American woman to earn her license in architecture. She earned her Bachelors degree in architecture and two Masters degrees in Architecture and Business Administration from Lawrence Technology Academy. Brown is the founder and C.E.O of 400 Forward, an organization aimed towards producing the next 400 black female architects.

Reasons for the sparse number in Black female Architects
A report by the American Institute of Architecture (AIA) displays surveys opinions on the Diversity in the Profession of Architecture. It illustrates that in general women in the profession of architecture are diminished. Black women however, are diminished even further. According to an article by Architect Magazine some factors governing this gender and racial contrast are the cost of attending architecture school, lack of diverse role models and mentors, work and life imbalance.