Are women breaking the architecture 'glass ceiling' in 2025?

SAH | Women, Welfare, Labour: The Architecture of Philanthropy

Session at Society of Architectural Historians Conference 2026 (Mexico City, 15-19 Apr 26) SAH, Mexico City, Apr 15–19, 2026 Deadline: Jun 5, 2025 www.sah.org/2026 We invite paper proposals for the session: Women, Welfare, Labour: The Architecture of Philanthropy  Before 1950 women rarely worked as architects, although they shaped, planned, designed, and maintained space. In the early 1900s, excluded from professional practice, women throughout …

Are women breaking the architecture 'glass ceiling' in 2025?

Laura McCrossan By Laura McCrossan, associate director, Aitken Turnbull Architects WOMEN are steadily gaining ground in UK business, with the 2025 FTSE Women Leaders Review reporting that women now hold 43% of company board roles. Yet in architecture, progress has been far slower. According to RIBA, the proportion of women in leadership positions has risen only marginally — from 16% to 19%. While women currently make up just 31% of UK architects…