Future
Opportunities For Women In The Planning Profession:
A View Of The Past, Present, and Future
Trends.
Submitted By:
Stephanie R. Campbell
Zoning Administration Planner III
St. Mary’s County, Maryland
Submitted as a funding request to the
NATIONAL AMERICAN PLANNING
ASSOCIATION
Future Opportunities For Women In The Planning Profession:
A View Of The Past, Present, and Future Trends.
Since the 1970’s, women have slowly yet steadily entered the planning profession with hopes that they could contribute to the construction and reconstruction of America’s metropolitan and non-metropolitan cities. Past research has shown that women planners have not been compensated, promoted, or given significant leadership responsibilities, at the same level as their male counterparts (Hopgood:1971). Women’s issues have been thoroughly examined in reference to compensation and numerical representation, however there are several other issues that are particularly specific to women, which have not yet been addressed.
The years of experience between men and women planners varied greatly during the 1980’s. According to the 1985 American Planning Association survey, the representation of women in APA was expected to increase considerably by the mid-1990’s. A look at other levels of representation also indicated the likelihood of that change. In the 1985 survey nearly four out of every 10 planners with fewer than five years experience were women. The same was true for planners with five to 10 years of experience. In the 10 years to 14 years experience category, one-forth of the respondents were women. However, there was a significant decrease that took place after 14 years of experience. Only fifteen percent of the planners with 15 to 19 years of experience were women and only six percent of women planners had 20 years or more (Hecimovich: 1989).
In the studies done by the American Planning Association between 1990 and 1995, the number of men and women who worked at various agencies and firms was roughly equal. Also the exact same percentage of men and women worked for public agencies, private, and nonpublic agencies. However the percentage of planning consultants who were women decreased dramatically between 1990 and 1995.
It is my goal to review the following areas:
1. Diversity in planning education and the workplace;
2. The influence of women planners as professors in Master’s and Ph.D. programs;
3. Job satisfaction as an employer and employee;
4. Entry into non-traditional planning professions;
5. Levels of responsibility in the work place;
6. Likelihood that more women will be entering the planning profession;
7. Likelihood that current women planners will stay in the profession.
By conducting this research, I hope to determine whether the planning profession is a field where women believe that they can excel and contribute to our society. The data generated will assist planning employers in determining whether their employment policies, with regards to women are adequate or need to be updated. By addressing these issues I also expect to further the foundation that has been established to serve as a mentor to the new women planners and support the women who are currently practicing planning.
The interdisciplinary nature of planning education is traced to its beginnings at a time when architecture, landscape architecture, and engineering exerted major influence. Now, as perhaps no time since the thirties, that physical imprint needs to be expanded not only because of economic and social implications but implicitly to incorporate issues about women. We are only beginning to understand that the disabled, elderly, and women are different and need to be recognized in the mainstream workplace. The dramatic shifts in women’s roles, in the areas of marriage, motherhood and the workforce has prompted me to conduct this study.
Since 1950, the only documents written concerning women’s progress in the planning field derived from reports from the Planning Advisory Service (PAS). These articles consisted of :
v Budgets and Salaries Selected of Community Planning Agencies
v Salaries and Professional Staff Requirements in Community Planning Agencies
v Salaries of Local Planning Agency Personnel
v Expenditures, Staff, and Salaries of Local Planning Agencies
v Salaries and Tenure of Professional Planners
v Planners Salaries and Employment Trends
Since 1971, large planning agencies have routinely employed female planners but opportunities for advancement were less than in smaller agencies. When employed by smaller planning agencies, female planners represented a greater percentage of the planning staff and had more supervisory responsibility. However, fewer small agencies employed female planners. According to past research, this fact has changed considerably in the last 40 years (Hoopgood: 1971).
In a study conducted in 1989, women were well represented in city planning agencies, where 36.2 percent of them worked. However, the men outnumber the women in city agencies by about three to one. The next highest level of representation for women was in the private sector. There were 306 women consultants who responded to the 1989 survey, but there were about four male consultants for every female consultant. Also more than 15% of the women responding to the survey who worked in county agencies, were outnumbered by the men, three to one. The category with the fewest respondents were in law firms. A significant number of those planners were also women. Given their 24.6% representation in the survey, women were underrepresented in state planning agencies, federal agencies, consulting firms, universities and colleges, developing firms, financial institutions, and real estate firms (Hecimovich:1989).
In reference to women in planning education, the field has become extremely homogeneous since 1989. That is, approximately 72% of planners are white males. In the early 1980’s, one of the main goals of planning schools was to expand the numbers of females and minorities in the profession. Unfortunately, at that time, limited efforts mere made to accomplish this goal. Needless to say, a significant organizational commitment to such change will be mandatory if this goal is to be accomplished (Ross: 1991).
This research obtained from the survey will attempt to prove my assumption that the reason why most women planners were underrepresented in state & federal agencies, financial institutions, and real estate firms is because those agencies require five or more years of experience in planning.
Many planning programs are designed to steer both male and female students and practitioners with less than five years of experience to public planning agencies. However, since the 1980’s women planners have gained a “footing” in the private side of the profession and, with additional years of experience, have the confidence to venture out into specializations i.e. law, preservation, economic development, real estate etc.
The articles produced by the Planning Advisory Service and The Journal of Planning Education have been an intrical part of the planning profession in reference to the progress that has been made by men and women in the planning profession. Issues that have been discussed include:
v Where Planners’ Work
v Planners’ Salaries
v Years of Planning Experience
v Types of Employers and Qualifications
v Minority Representation
v Planners’ Work Responsibilities
v Demographic Shifts
v American Institute of Certified Planners Membership
By reviewing and evaluating these issues, some clarity will be shed on another question of whether planning is a profession where women feel that they can contribute to community development and betterment. If this is the case, the survey results will show that this profession will encourage other women to enter the planning field in the future.
PROBLEM
STATEMENT
Previous research provided by the American Planning Association, has focused on compensation in the workplace. Issues such as job location, education, and years of experience have provided the basis for determining ones compensation in the planning profession. However, with the increase of women with more planning education and experience, the professional planning organizations as well as those in related fields have made a point to create specific “women’s divisions” and or “special committee’s to address these issues.
Therefore, this report will attempt to examine how women in the planning profession have begun the transition into workplace equality. It can now be quantified. I will also attempt to explain whether women have significantly advanced in the past 10 years by acquiring higher salaries, more responsibility, higher positions, and have diversified into non-traditional planning fields. The question of “to what degree” will likewise be reviewed and quantified.
The following issues will be identified and examined:
1. On the job levels and types of leadership and job responsibilities;
2. Diversity both on the job and during their education;
3. Planning specializations that are attracting women planners;
4. Relevance of licensing as it relates to increased opportunities;
5. Level of job satisfaction;
6. Level of satisfaction with reference to previous education;
7. Opinions about their futures in the planning profession;
8. Influence of women planners as professors in graduate and doctoral planning programs;
9. Ideal workplaces for women planners.
Not only will this report address issues related to women in reference to the above mentioned list, I will attempt to see if the findings from the Morris article have remained true or have changed in the later half of the century. I suspect that they have changed due to the following reasons:
The study group for this report will include both women in the planning profession and planning education programs. However special emphasis will be placed on women in planning. A survey will be conducted which will include 7,000 women planners in the American Planning Association.
A stratified sample of 5,000 women planners will be taken from this survey group to compile the study group. A survey sample consisting of the entire women planner’s membership of the Kansas Chapter of APA will assist in the review and modification of the survey design.
The literature research for this report has been obtained from a variety of sources including Planning Advisory Service Reports, Planning/Education Journals, Planning Books. However, this list of sources may be modified throughout this process.
American Institute of Architects; 1975; Affirmative Action Plan For The Integration
of Women In The Architectural Profession, pg. 1-73.
Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning; 1996; Guide to Graduate Education in
Urban and Regional Planning, 10th Edition, pg. V-XIV.
Berkley, E.P.; 1989; Architecture, A Place For Women; Caught in the Crossfire,
“Women and Architecture Education”, 1880-1910, Smithsonian Institution Press,
Washington, pg. 27-39.
Edelman, J.; 1989; A Place For Women; The Task Force on Women, “The AIA
Responds to a Growing Presence”, Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington,
pg. 117-123.
Forsyth, A.; 1998; Journal of Planning Education and Research, Comments: Diversity
Issues in a Professional Curriculum: Four Stories and Some Suggestions for
Change, Vol. 18 #2, pg.58-62.
Glasmeir, A., Kahn.T.; 1989; Journal of Planning Education and Research, Planners In
The 80’s: Who We Are Where We Work, Vol. 9 #1, pg. 4-16.
Leavitt, J.;1983; Journal of Planning Education and Research, The Gender Gap: Making
Planning Education Relevant, Vol. 3#1, pg.55-56.
Looye,J., Sesay,A.; 1998; Journal of Planning Education and Research, Introducing
Diversity Into The Planning Curriculum: A Method For Department-Wide
Implementation, Vol. 18 #2, pg.162-165.
Martin, R.; 1986; The Difficult Path; “Women In The Architecture Profession”,
Dissertation Information Service, University Microfilms International, pg. 1-24, 121-145.
Ross, C.L.; 1983; Journal of Planning Education and Research, Increasing Minority and
Female Representation in the Profession: A Call for Diversity, Vol. 9#2,
pg. 135 -138.
Van Zanten, D.; 1989; Architecture, A Place For Women; Frank Lloyd Wright’s
Kindergarden, “Professional Practice and Sexual Roles”, Smithsonian Institution
Press, Washington, pg. 55-61.
Weisman, L.K.; 1989; A Place For Women; A Feminist Experiment, “Learning from
WSPA, Then and Now”, Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington,
pg. 125-127.
Will, E.W.; 1983; Journal of Planning Education and Research, Increasing Minority
Representation in the Planning Professoriate, Vol. 9#2, pg.139-142.
PAS 18:American Planning Association: Planning Advisory Service; Budgets and
Salaries of Selected Community Planning Agencies. September 1950, p.1-23.
PAS 39:American Planning Association: Planning Advisory Service; Budgets of
Community Planning Agencies. June 1952, p.1-28.
PAS 41:American Planning Association: Planning Advisory Service; Salaries and
Professional Staff Requirements in Selected Community Planning Agencies.
August 1952, p.1-43.
PAS 131:American Planning Association: Planning Advisory Service; Local Planning
Agency Expenditures and Staff. June 1960, p. 1-28.
PAS 121: American Planning Association: Planning Advisory Service; Salaries of Local
Planning Agency and Personnel. April 1959. p.1-28.
PAS 224: American Planning Association: Planning Advisory Service; Equal
Opportunity: Selected Statements from Planning Publications. July 1967, p. 1-15.
PAS 256: American Planning Association: Planning Advisory Service; Expenditures,
Staff, and Salaries of Planning Agencies, 1970. Michael J. Meshenberg. April
1970, p. 1-86.
PAS 273: American Planning Association: Planning Advisory Service; Women in
Planning: A Report on Their Status in Public Planning Agencies. Karen E. Hopgood. October 1971. p. 1-28.
PAS 301: American Planning Association: Planning Advisory Service; Planning,
Women, and Change. Karen Hopgood and Judith N. Getzel. April 1974, p. 1-78.
PAS 329: American Planning Association: Planning Advisory Service; Salaries and
Tenure of Professional Planners: 1977. Michael J. Meshenberg and George C.
Turnbull, Jr. September 1977, p. 1-17.
PAS 345: American Planning Association: Planning Advisory Service; Salaries and
Tenure of Professional Planners, 1979. Gregory Longhini, October 1979, p. 1-14.
PAS 345: American Planning Association: Planning Advisory Service; Salaries and
Tenure of Professional Planners, 1979. Gregory Longhini, November 1980,
p. 1-18.
PAS 366: American Planning Association: Planning Advisory Service;Planners’ Salaries
and Employment Trends, 1981. Judith Getzels and Gregory Longhini. January
1982, p. 1-22.
PAS 395: American Planning Association: Planning Advisory Service;Planners’ Salaries
and Employment Trends, 1985. James Hecimovich and JoAnn C. Butler.
February 1986, p. 1-18.
PAS 439: American Planning Association: Planning Advisory Service; Planners’
Salaries and Employment Trends, 1991.Marya Morris. October 1992, p. 1-44.
PAS 464: American Planning Association: Planning Advisory Service; Planners’
Salaries and Employment Trends, .Marya Morris. July 1996, p. 1-14
RESEARCH
PROCEDURE
The first procedure to successfully complete this study is a review of the existing literature as it relates to planning practice, and education. This portion of the study will rely heavily on the Planning Advisory Service documents.
The second procedure includes submitting letters of proposal for survey funding to the National American Planning Association. During this time a sample survey will be created. After the proposal have been approved, the sample survey will be sent to the woman members of the Kansas Chapter of the APA. This process is designed to gather feedback on the survey design and relevancy of the survey questions. I had a return rate of 43%.
The third procedure in this process involves the revision of the survey based on the sample survey suggestions and modifications. After the revision has been done, the revised survey will be mailed to 5,000 women planners chosen from the national APA membership.
The fourth procedure involves the collection and analysis of data received from the survey. It is anticipated that with a stratified sample, a return rate of 60% is anticipated. The reasoning for the high return rate is due to the return postage that will be provided for the surveys.
The survey consists of a questionnaire composed of (50) questions that have been divided into four categories:
1. Socio-Economic Profile
2. Employment Background
3. Educations background
4. Diversity
These questions consist of “nominal” questions that are often used in the social sciences. These questions refer to issues that lack any sense of relative size or magnitude. Examples include but are not limited to race, sex, type of occupation, job classification etc. The second level of measurement used for this survey include “ratio” questions, which express a value from “low to high” or vise versa. These questions refer to income, years of experience etc. The third measurement consist of the Likert Scale method, which measures the level of satisfaction i.e. “satisfied”, “neutral”, “dissatisfied”.
Those questions that are not Likert Scale in nature will be assigned a code that will represent a value, by which the responses will be measured. A summary of the results of the survey returned will include comparisons and contrasts between regions of the United States, minority/non-minority women, and between past/present data that has been collected on women. A summary of the anticipated future of women in the planning profession will be included as well as concluding comments.
EXPECTED
RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS
The proposed study and survey is designed to explore the areas in which women planners have advanced since the 1970’s. The results of the survey are expected to indicate several issues:
1. There are more women in the planning profession now than ever before;
2. Women planners have more years of experience than previous studies;
3. A substantial number of women planners have obtained leadership positions;
4. The salary gap between men and women planners is decreasing;
5. Several interest groups for women planners have become established;
6. More women are entering the planning profession;
7. More women are venturing into non-traditional planning fields;
8. Women have an active role in teaching planning in Master’s/Ph.D. programs;
9. Local government is no longer the major employer of women planners.
I assume that there have been advances in the status of women in the planning profession. Since many of the women planners who were the pioneers in the field are reaching the advanced stages of their career, they are serving as role models for incoming planners. With the addition of special interest groups, women planners have also created a support network, which has expanded into other areas of planning.
Though one study could never answer all of the questions generated on women’s issues it is important to identify questions that could later be used for future studies. Some questions that refer to our future include:
1. Will the salary gap close within the next ten years?
2. What areas of planning will attract the most women?
3. How will women planners affect planning education in the future?
4. Will planning education become more diverse with the changing of the racial population in the United States?
5. Will women planners become global in the future?
6. What contributions will current women planners make on the future women planners?
The foundation for women planners was made in the early 1970’s and it has taken three decades to develop an identity within the profession. With the assistance of other professions that are closely related to planning, women planners will be able to create opportunities by which women can excel and become successful. Hopefully this transition will take place within the next ten years rather than the distant future.