The start of each year is a good time to look at the stats for African American architects in the profession. This is my tenth annual installment look at the numbers.
This year was exciting because after surpassing 400 licensed African American women in July 2017, at the end of the 2018 that number was at 447, incredibly close to 450. The total number on the Directory of African American Architects (DAA)** at the end of 2018 was 2255.
This graph shows the total number of newly licensed African American architects added to the directory by their year of licensure since 2000.
The chart below shows the count of newly licensed professionals by year and gender for the past five years from the DAA.
| Year | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Women | 13 | 27 | 31 | 25 | 25 |
| Men | 20 | 46 | 37 | 39 | 41 |
| Total | 33 | 73 | 68 | 64 | 66 |
After a dramatic increase in 2015, there seem to be a plateau of the number of new licenses each year. One of the outside forces pushing people to finish was the transition from ARE 4.0 to 5.0. That period of transition is over so that rush to finish has passed. Additionally, unemployment remains low so people may feel like they can get jobs without being licensed. However according to Bloomberg, everyone should be watching for a bottoming out in the unemployment rates as signs of a coming recession period.
Additional highlights for 2018 include William (Bill) Bates, being inaugurated as president of the American Institute of Architects. The second African American to hold that office. Kimberly Dowdell was elected as president of National Organization Of Minority Architects, the fourth woman to hold that position.
Equity by Design conducted their third survey looking at talent retention within Architecture. The diverse pool of over 14,000 participants gives another glimpse into how professionals are navigating their careers.
Read the previous annual posts:
2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009
References:
- NCARB by the Numbers, trends of internship, exam, and licensure
- The Directory of African American Architects.**
**Note: listings in the directory are self-reported and continuously updated. Check the website for current totals.
