ARB, Architects and EDI
As the statutory regulator for the architects’ profession, the Architects Registration Board (ARB) ensures only those who are suitably competent are allowed to practise as architects. We do this by approving the qualifications required to join the Register of Architects. We set the standards of conduct and practice the profession must meet and take action when any architect falls below those standards. You can search the Register to find out whether someone is an architect here.
Architects play a crucial role in creating a built environment that is safe, sustainable and where everyone in society can live well. If the architects’ profession is drawn from and representative of different types of communities and lifestyles, it will be better equipped to design environments for different types of communities and lifestyles. A key part of our corporate strategy is therefore to foster a culture of equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in our own organisation, and to take action to ensure change occurs in architecture. In order to do that and to shape our regulatory activities, we need to understand the profession, how it is now and how it might be changing.
The Register of Architects is the only complete and authoritative source of information about all architects qualified to work in the UK. In this report, we use data we hold on the Register along with other sources to analyse the profession, to cover:
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- The makeup of the architects’ profession in 2022;
- The makeup of new architects joining the profession each year between 2016 and 2021;
- How the makeup of the profession compares to the UK population at large.
How we gather data from architects
Architects share information with ARB in the following ways:
- Architects must give us some basic information about themselves to be able to join the Register. This includes their date of birth, binary gender and the location where they are based.
- Architects can also complete our optional EDI survey in which they can give us information about their ethnicity, gender (including non-binary options), sexuality, religion, disability and their socio-economic background. Each question includes a ‘prefer not to say’ option so architects can choose what information to share.
- The percentage of those who have voluntarily completed this survey has increased since 2016 and now over 70% of architects do so.
Gender
Binary gender of UK population and architects
Only 31% of architects are female, which is significantly lower than the UK population at 51%. Figures for gender identity from our EDI survey also show underrepresentation of women.
Over a third of architects prefer not to say their gender identity, and 15 individuals identify as non-binary or other.
Census
Register
Gender of new architects joining the Register
The proportion of newly registered architects identifying as female has increased from 41% in 2016 to 47% in 2021.
This trend has not been consistent but has the increase has continued.
Non-binary was first added as an option in 2020.
Ethnicity
Ethnicity of the UK population and the Register
White people are overrepresented on the Register, with 88% of architects being White in comparison to 83% of the UK population.
Black or Black British people are underrepresented on the Register: 4% of the UK population are Black or Black British but only 1% of the Register.
Asian or Asian British people are slightly underrepresented, accounting for 8% of the Register but 9% of the UK population.
Mixed and Other ethnic groups account for 2% and 1% of the Register respectively, but 3% and 2% of the UK population.
Census
Register
Ethnicity and gender
White men comprise a third of the Register, and White women a fifth.
By comparison, 3% of architects on the UK Register are Asian or Asian British men, and 2% are Asian or Asian British women.
Men and women of every other ethnic group each comprise less than 1% of the Register.
In addition, 7% prefer not to say their ethnicity. Architects who preferred not to say their gender have been excluded from the graph.
Ethnicity of new registrants
The proportion of new registrants who are White reduced consistently from 2016 to 2021.
Conversely, the proportion of new registrants who are Asian or Asian British and Black or Black British rose.
ARB stakeholder engagement
Our engagement reaches a more diverse cross section of the profession, slightly closer to the profile of the UK population, than the Register as a whole. We know this from our analysis of respondents to our 2021 surveys on CPD and initial education and training (IET), as well as membership of our ongoing Architects Engagement Group (AEG).
Location
The UK population and the Register
Half (50%) of all architects are based in London and the South East, compared to 27% of the UK population. This demonstrates a lack of geographical spread of the profession, with many regions of the UK underrepresented.
New architects joining the Register
From 2016 to 2021, over 60% of architects joining the Register have been based in London and the South East. The second most common group is architects located outside the UK, although the proportion of newly registered architects outside the UK has decreased over the six year period of this study.
There is no consistency in regards to incline or decline in numbers for any region from 2016 to 2021 as the numbers fluctuate. There is regional variation by ethnicity. London and the South East has:
- 70% of Black or Black British architects
- 64% of architects of a mixed ethnicity
- 58% of Asian or Asian British architects.
Almost a quarter (23%) of Asian or Asian British architects are based outside the UK, compared to 10% of all registered architects.
Sexual orientation
The UK population and the Register
Excluding those who prefer not to say their sexual orientation, 96% of architects identify as heterosexual, compared to a national estimate that 89% of the UK population are heterosexual. This means that other sexual orientations are potentially underrepresented in the profession.
Architects’ sexual orientation – and whether they are comfortable sharing it – varies significantly across different ethnic groups. For example, 84% of White architects are heterosexual and 13% prefer not to say, whereas 90% of Black or Black British architects are heterosexual and 8% prefer not to say.
New architects joining the Register
The majority of new registrants identified as heterosexual or straight.
A large proportion of architects preferred not to say, with an average of 18% doing so over the six years.
These percentages remained consistent throughout the six year period.
Religion
The Register
Architects are less likely to be religious than the UK population at large: 41% of architects are non-religious and 34% are Christian. This compares to 48% of the UK population describing themselves as Christian and 37% saying they are not religious.
Religion and age
Architects are less likely to be religious than the UK population at large: 41% of architects are non-religious and 34% are Christian. This compares to 48% of the UK population describing themselves as Christian and 37% saying they are not religious.
The proportion of architects who say they are Christian increases with age. Conversely, the proportion who are non-religious decreases:
- 47% of architects aged 51-70 are Christian; this drops to 34% in architects aged 30 or younger
- 43% of architects aged 30 or under are non-religious; this drops to 27% in architects aged 51-70.
Disability
The Register
People with disabilities are potentially underrepresented on the Register. In England, in 2021, 17.7% of people were disabled and in Wales, 21.1%.
Only 1% of architects on the Register report that they have a disability.
We cannot analyse any trends in a group so small as 1% of the Register, and would like to improve our data.
Socio-economic mobility
To help us understand social mobility into the profession, we ask: ‘By the time you were 14 years old, had one or more of your parent(s) or guardian(s) completed a university degree course or equivalent (e.g. BA. BSc, or higher)?’ The majority (96%) of architects answering the this question chose ‘prefer not to say’.
Of those who gave a response to this question, the figures were very similar:
- 535 (1.76%) said their parents did not have a degree, and
- 565 (1.86%) said their parents did.
We cannot analyse any trends due to the limited information we have, and would like to improve our data.
Conclusions
The architects’ profession does not reflect the makeup of society:
- Women are underrepresented on the Register.
- White people are over represented on the Register.
- Heterosexual or straight people are potentially over represented on the Register; we say ‘potentially’ because a significant proportion of architects (19%) prefer not to say.
- The profession is not evenly dispersed across the country.
- Gender and ethnic diversity are improving year on year, but the geographical spread across the UK is not.
We would like to improve our data and understanding of:
- The gender and ethnic representation of those in initial education and training, and the points at which some groups drop out of the profession;
- Why so few architects state that they have a disability compared to national trends;
- Why some people choose to ‘prefer not to say’ and how we can improve our data on certain characteristics of the profession, including sexual orientation and socio-economic mobility.
