Providing students with a glimpse into their possible futures is what a high school should do. Therefore, giving our young women the opportunity to hear from professional women in the field is essential to show them that they have a place in the architectural field. In our Women in Architecture Series, WHSAD students listen to those who have worked hard to accomplish their goals and gain inspiration and insights as to what it takes hit the mark when you aim high.
In the following narratives, students share their thoughts as to what they took away from the first session which featured Ms. Betty Fouché, who has experience as a project engineer, project manager, architect construction representative, and a variety other roles.
On October 21, 2024 Ms. Fouche from VZE architecture spoke to a group of WHSAD’s young women students. Using with presentation slides, she talked about many different ways on how to start your own company. This meeting consisted of young women who are either aspiring architects or interested in careers relating to architecture. During the meeting we discussed how there are architects who have studied architecture but don’t have their license. For example, Ms. Fouche is an architect without a license but has her own company. Furthermore, in the meeting we understood that in order for us to be an architect we need to take an exam which is 9 parts and requires a lot of studying. However, if you were to fail a section of the exam, then you will have six months to retake the exam per section. With that being said, in order for you to get a Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch) you need to be in college for 5 years. Also, if you want a Bachelor in Science in Architecture (B.S.Arch) you also have to be in college for 4 years. Last but not least if want a Master of Architecture (MArch) you need to be in college for an additional 2-3 years.
In addition, we learned about the role of a business owner owning an architectural company and how they hire their employees. There were many ways on how the owner can hire someone such as that the owner can hire the architect and make the architect find who they need for their team or the owner can choose who they want to hire for their own company. We also understood the role of the architect and their design phase which is following schematic design stage, design development stage, and construction document stage. All three stages required the owner’s approval in order to move on to the next stage. Last but not least the person with less responsibility makes less money while the higher people who get paid more have more responsibility. This all helped the young women who are either aspiring architects or interested in careers related to architecture understand some sort of what it’s like being involved in the field of architecture.
-Melissa Macias, Sophomore
The women of architecture collaboration helped inspire the women of WHSAD to challenge the old rhetoric that women can’t achieve a successful career in architecture and design. The presenter helped us to understand the importance that architecture can provide for them and the challenges that come with becoming a successful architect. The presenter is an inspiring figure who has worked in the architecture world and who has experienced the hardships that women in the architecture industry go through. She spoke in-depth about how she became an architect and why she wanted a career in architecture and design. Additionally, she explained how architecture can be a creative career and designing buildings and different structures can be considered an art in itself. Many women in the architecture industry don’t get the same opportunity as their male counterparts, deeming women to be less useful in an architecture space which causes women often to leave the profession.
The presenter uses this information to motivate these young women to work hard to prove to others and themselves that they can achieve huge success in the architecture field. Throughout this presentation WHSAD women get to see how to work in the architecture industry and how to get started becoming a professional architect. They learned how to start to prepare for the ARE exam to become an architect and to not be discouraged by the challenge that the exam provides. Passing the exam could lead to different positions that people can uphold once they become an official architect, such as the Senior Principal/Partner, Mid-Level Principal/Partner, Junior Principal/Partner, Department Head/Senior Manager and more. Over the course of this presentation young women learned to manage and develop the skills required to succeed in architecture and to overcome the challenges that they can face when entering the architecture industry.
-Madison Kelly, Freshman
I learned that architecture is mostly tied to safety. There are many safety precautions when building structures and the intricate design process one must follow in order to get those structures realized. There is a deep process behind every structure and requires multiple perspectives from every part of the architecture field. Every architecture project has a project manager who takes responsibility for the project. Every single detail is selected by the architect no matter how simple or self-explanatory it might seem.
There are many different ways to show your skills through architecture. For example, you can be an interior designer, start a firm, etc. With architecture you can go for your masters degree even if you just switched to architecture from another field. In order to become an architect five years are mandatory for your bachelors degree in architecture. Valuable skills for an architect to possess are perseverance, love for architecture, communication skills, negotiation skills, math skills, kindness, and consideration. These are important qualities to express because in order to make something, you need multiple roles involved meaning to need to work with others and treat them a certain way for everything to run smoothly. There are different roles in architecture that rely less on responsibility than others and with less responsibility comes less money. All in all to get through the day it is important to know all these factors that build up architecture.
-Elizabeth Cruz, Sophomore