Gender, Economics, and the Career I Almost Gave Up On

In the contemporary Architecture industry, women don’t just design buildings; they navigate a system that routinely underpays them, sidelines their expertise, and treats their professionalism as a negotiable discount. After years of being approached only when a client wanted a bargain, I recently walked into a meeting that forced me to confront the misogyny I had normalized – and what it feels like when someone finally sees you as an architect, not a lower rate.

Across Kenya and Africa, more women are graduating from Architecture School than ever before. Yet few rise to principal roles, lead firms, or secure project pipelines that reflect their skill. The barriers are not about talent; they are structural – shaped by biased clients, predatory procurement systems, and a profession that often undermines women from within.

The Silent Economics of Gender in Architecture

In Kenya, one of the clearest patterns in private-sector work is this: women are approached for Architectural Design projects primarily when the client wants to pay below market rate.

The lines differ, but the message is consistent:

“We thought you’d be more flexible.”

“Our budget is tight; maybe you can help us.”

“We didn’t want a big firm; we wanted someone understanding.”

And the version women hear quietly, but frequently: “Women are easier to haggle down.”

It’s not about ability. Nor is it about experience. It’s predicated on presumed pliability.

This is economic misogyny disguised as opportunity, and it shapes who gets called, who gets paid, and who gets overworked while trying to “prove” their value.

Research Mirrors What Women Already Know

• RIBA (2025) identified undervaluation, late payments, and reduced project authority as global norms for women in Architectural practice.
• In Nigeria, the Association of Consulting Architects (2018) reported widespread assumptions that women negotiators accept lower fees.

The pattern is regional, continental, and global.

Even more damaging is the misogyny from male architects, engineers, and contractors; the people women work alongside daily.

Inside offices and on sites, women face:

• Their technical decisions questioned without cause.
• Instructions ignored until repeated by a man.
• Firms assigning them “soft” roles, regardless of skill.
• Being spoken over in design review meetings.
• Exclusion from procurement and fee-negotiation meetings.
• Being rated as “junior” no matter their years of experience.

These aren’t isolated stories – they form the ecosystem.

• Another study commissioned by RIBA (2003) found that women face more technical undermining from male peers than from clients.

The profession reproduces its own bias even before clients enter the picture.

A Meeting That Broke the Pattern

Against this backdrop, I recently reached out to an architect whose work I admire, half-expecting the usual dynamic: polite dismissal or a lowball offer disguised as mentorship.

Instead, something unexpected happened.

Within minutes, he acknowledged the ugly truth: “It’s harder for women in procurement and payment. Clients don’t treat female architects fairly.”

No defensiveness. No minimizing. Just honesty.

Then he proposed a structure that accounted for the bias without diminishing me:

“You handle production; I’ll handle the business, procurement, and politics.”

In Architectural Practice, production is the engine:

• Design Development
• Drafting and Detailing
• Coordinating Consultants
• Managing revisions
• Producing deliverables

Assigning me that role wasn’t shielding me. It was recognizing my competences.

For the first time in a long time, I wasn’t being tested, doubted, or placed in a corner labelled “subordinate.” I was treated as the Technical Centre of the practice.

What It Means to Be Seen as an Architect, Not a Discount

Being “seen” in Architecture isn’t romantic. It’s structural.

It’s when someone looks at your work and sees:

• Clarity
• Discipline
• Technical Literacy
• Design Logic
• Architectural Identity

Not gender. Not negotiability. Not discount value.

That meeting didn’t fix the industry.
But it revealed what fairness looks like inside a broken system.

A Different Kind of Waiting

He asked me to return at a later date, to finalize next steps.
And for once, I’m waiting without fear. Because regardless of what the offer becomes, that moment shifted something fundamental: I finally saw what it looks like to work in a room where I am not the discounted option, the negotiable quote, the “female architect” who must accept less.

I was simply – clearly, unquestionably – an architect.

And sometimes, in this profession, one room of clarity is enough to illuminate the whole system.