By Judith Kinnard, President
A recent study connecting unemployment and earnings to college majors, titled Hard Times, is clearly a source of concern for architectural educators and the profession, because it marks architecture as having the highest levels of unemployment of all majors in the report: 14% for bachelor’s graduates ages 22 to 26. The study, published by Georgetown University’s Center for Education and the Workforce and picked up in regional and national media, drew from 2009 and 2010 U.S. Census data to connect respondents’ undergraduate major with employment status and earnings.
The ongoing recession in the construction industry has had a disproportionate effect on recent architecture graduates and emerging professionals, as firms have chosen to hold on to existing staff and limit hiring. Yet a broader perspective on the historic cycles of the construction industry reveals that the long-term prospects for design professionals are very strong. As the U.S. economy recovers, pent up demand will create the need for design leadership in the construction of new buildings for our civic and cultural institutions, for commerce, and for homes. Existing buildings will be adapted to serve new functions and to meet current environmental standards. We know that our public spaces and infrastructure, in large cities and small towns, need renovation and modernization. Global demand for innovative design remains strong. Graduates of our architecture programs have the technical knowledge, the digital skills, and the talent that firms in architecture and affiliated professions need as they ramp up to respond to new opportunities and demand.
This study captured an unusual and difficult moment for the construction industry and the architecture profession. It puts numbers to levels of unemployment that are stark, but perhaps not surprising: 13.9% among those age 22 to 26 with a bachelor’s degree in architecture (which may or may not include an accredited professional degree); 9.2% among those age 30 to 54. Among architecture undergraduates who also have a graduate degree, the unemployment level is 7.7%, the report said.
Although we cannot ignore the serious issue that this study reveals, we must take a broader view. Given the challenges that many of our cities and regions face, we must encourage students to engage architecture and the related design disciples. Yet we must also do more to assist our students in making the transition into their careers in architecture for both the first year after graduation and the decades after. Career and student services are central to architecture schools’ missions, and I will task the board to find more ways to use our existing programs to highlight best practices.
Preparing students for careers should rise naturally from each school’s curriculum, as well. As we begin to review and revise accreditation standards in 2012 and 2013, we should be asking serious questions about how individual schools can best respond to this reality. For some schools this might mean reaffirming the importance of critical thinking and communication skills and strengthening connections to the liberal arts. For others this may mean a renewed focus on technical subjects and building science. My hope is that all schools will reaffirm their commitment to the central role that design plays in our discipline. New accreditation conditions will need to accommodate and indeed promote this diversity of approaches to prepare students for the challenging conditions they will face as they begin their careers.
In closing, I want to report that at ACSA’s recent Administrators Conference in Los Angeles, we asked participants to share whether their recent graduates are finding jobs. On the whole the responses did not reflect the same tone as the Hard Times report. Does your school see the same rate of unemployment among your graduates? Please comment.