Celebrating the Women of VCBO: A Roundtable about Equity in the Workplace

To celebrate Women’s History Month, VCBO held a discussion earlier this month with some of the fantastic women who work at our firm. Roundtable participants included architects, interior designers, and support staff at various stages in their careers.

The discussion focused on our employees’ experiences at VCBO and other firms, and what it takes to create an equitable work environment for everyone. 

According to AIA Utah and a national AIA Demographics Report, only 15% of licensed AIA architects in Utah are women, compared to 25% nationally. While the number of women in A/E/C and leadership positions has increased dramatically in the past few decades, bias still remains within the industry and affects both architects and other roles. 

At VCBO, we recently noticed that over half our staff is made up of women. While we do our best every day to create an equitable environment for all of our employees, many participants shared experiences — whether with coworkers or clients, at this firm and others — showing there are still ways we can improve. They also discussed wins and empowering moments in their careers. 

As everyone shared personal experiences and thoughts, a few key themes emerged:

1. Women in leadership matters

2. We can advocate for ourselves and each other

3. Confidence is a skill you practice

We’re thrilled to share some of the insights, stories, and points that unfolded during our discussion. 

Women in Leadership Matters

Only 17% of architects in leadership are women. Part of that is because they’ve only started going to school in droves, so they’re not at that point in their career yet. But I can see that it’s going to change. — Jeanne

Interactions are so powerful. I remember coming to my job interview here, and I only interacted with women the entire time. I was immediately inspired and wanted to work here. Young women should be exposed to other powerful women constantly through community outreach, media, and most importantly representation in the systems they interact with every day whether that be school, work, sports, etc. — Rachel S. 

Female skills and talents – compassion, empathy – are sometimes considered inferior to stereotypical male skills that are brought to the business world. What I bring to the table is valuable, so having those mentors is especially important to reinforce that. It’s amazing how having women in leadership can change a whole culture in a field and company. — Hoku

I’ve really appreciated having female mentors, whether at work or in the industry, who have been able to help me with my career. When you’re struggling and trying to figure out who you are, especially early in your career, it’s good to have an advocate and an ally – someone who usually believes in you more than you believe in yourself. — Julee 

It is really challenging to correct someone in a higher position than you –- so it has to be a leadership-driven change. Working from the bottom up just doesn’t work well in my experience. — Anonymous

I plan to stay strong as a woman in design and in getting licensed. I’m going to further my career and become a leader. — Madeleine B.

We Can Advocate for Ourselves & Each Other

When I tell people I’m a commercial interior designer, their reaction is often, “that must be fun.” When I’m speaking with clients, some of them will say, “This really isn’t my thing – I’m going to fly my wife up to talk to you.” I’ve had that happen before. And I’ve talked to other interior designers about how we just can’t get people to take us seriously. The conversation came around to this – if you show people through your work what your value is, over and over again, eventually they’ll get it. — Madeleine H.

In our office, I feel that we’re very fortunate to have the support we do. I never feel left out or out of place as a woman or as a hijabi woman. I feel very fortunate that we have all that support, and if we do struggle, we can go to someone [for support]. I remember I was having trouble for three weeks trying to get a contractor to get back to me, and I told [male principal], who wasn’t even on the project. He said, “just CC me on the email,” and fifteen minutes later, I got the information I needed. — Hanna 

I was asked to speak to about 300 people at a ribbon cutting. I was thinking about what I should talk about. But it was great because we had a bunch of consultants and people from VCBO who had worked on the project. So Jodie introduced me, and I got up and said, “Thanks. I always get all this credit, but really I have a huge team of people who do the actual work, and they’re right over there.” It was the easiest thing in the world to do that, and I think it made everyone feel valued. — Jeanne

While I feel pressure to be so excellent at my job that no one could say a man could do it better, I think my real responsibility is to be committed to learning. It's also important to "spread the wealth" with other women-–which means being generous and sharing opportunities, networks, resources, etc. — Isabelle 

Confidence is a Skill you Practice

Confidence doesn't happen. You have to work at it, and we [as leaders] have to help you so that you can gain confidence. — Jeanne 

Don’t believe the lie that’s been perpetuated or perpetuate the narrative that there is any difference between our values [as women]. Those things that are handed down to us, just don’t even acknowledge them. Sometimes when you perpetuate it, it wears off on you. And that’s not real, I don’t need to pay any attention to it. — Ajri

Call it like you see it. If you notice something, call it out, speak up, give voice to it. Chances are someone else in that situation was also uncomfortable or noticed an issue. From personal experience, I know this can be easier said than done, but it’s so important and becomes easier both with practice and the realization that your voice is often a reflection of many. — Hoku

Being assertive is a skill, just like riding a bike or anything else. It will become more natural over time, particularly if you have a culture of supportiveness and safety. Little interactions help create a culture of safety. On the flip side, those who might be a little old school or biased are the culture too, and it changes their behavior on a subconscious level. Being more mindful of standing up for each other is important because sometimes that’s easier than standing up for ourselves. — Jennifer 

Continuing Conversations

Although we recognize that bias is still present in our industry, VCBO was glad to have the opportunity to listen to the experiences of many of our employees and continue the conversations many are having surrounding gender equality and workplace equity.

To end Women’s History Month, all the women at VCBO were invited to lunch to discuss ways to empower each other and offer suggestions to how the company can implement training, policies, and procedures to act on the every-day experiences of women in the workplace. This lunch was intended to celebrate and inspire the women of VCBO, but also to commit to continued action as March comes to an end.