The National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) released the 2024 edition of its “NCARB By The Numbers” report, an annual survey of the state of licensure in the United States. The numbers offer an overview of the architectural profession, showing the demographics of candidates pursuing architecture licensure. While the advancements in gender equity and racial diversity have been gradual, they highlight a positive trend supported by initiatives to make licensure more accessible to a diverse demographic, in hopes of promoting a more representative architectural community.
Based on information recorded at the end of 2023, progress in architectural licensure increased, with the total number of U.S. architects rising by 1 percent to 121,000. Notably, those actively pursuing licensure grew by 7 percent to 37,000, while newly licensed architects increased by 6 percent to over 3,700. It now takes candidates an average of 13.3 years to earn their licenses, slightly longer than pre-pandemic averages. Recent NCARB initiatives, such as eliminating the five-year expiration on exam divisions, reinstating previously expired divisions, and offering free practice exams, have contributed to improved pass rates. As NCARB enhances accessibility, there is optimism that attrition rates will decrease in the future.
In terms of gender equity and racial diversity, the improvements seem to be incremental, but consistent over the past 5 years. Last year, 47% of the licensure candidates identified as a person of color, and 46% were women. This year, women make up 48% of the testing population, a 2 % increase, and the report shows that women typically earn their license faster than men, by 1 year sooner on average.
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According to these metrics, of the new architects who have gained licensure, 1 in 3 are persons of color, and 2 in 5 are women, which has shown a steady increase since 2019. Asian women represent the largest group among POC licensure candidates, at 9%. According to the report, non-binary individuals are below the minimum sample size threshold, at less than 0.05%.
In other related news, the architects’ registration boards in the UK and US have reached an agreement that enables architects to benefit from a more straightforward process to get licensed in both countries. As a promoter of equity and inclusion at an international scale, Ghanaian-Scottish architect, academic, and curator Lesley Lokko has been announced as the recipient of the 2024 Royal Gold Medal by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), becoming the first African woman to receive the award.