<p>From an article in the New York Times (3-7-10) about teaching:
[Building</a> a Better Teacher - NYTimes.com](<a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/07/magazine/07Teachers-t.html?pagewanted=all]Building”>http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/07/magazine/07Teachers-t.html?pagewanted=all)
“Consider a bar graph presented at a recent talk on teaching, displaying the number of Americans in different professions. The shortest bar, all the way on the right, represented architects: 180,000. Farther over, slightly higher, came psychologists (185,000) and then lawyers (952,000), followed by engineers (1.3 million) and waiters (1.8 million). On the left side of the graph, the top three: janitors, maids and household cleaners (3.3 million); secretaries (3.6 million); and, finally, teachers (3.7 million).” </p>
<p>Does this sound right? Is this good or bad? Having a daughter about to embark on her journey becoming one of the “few and the proud” makes me curious as to what others who have a stake in the profession think.</p>
<p>After looking at these figures I tried to confirm the number and understand how they are using the word architect. Is it 180,000 registered architects (seems high), or 180,000 people working in an architectural practice?</p>
<p>In any case, yes, it is a relatively small profession, but based on the competition to get into architecture schools it still seems pretty desirable. The profession has done a pretty good job of trying to limit competition. The number of schools is very limited, with many states having only one or two accredited schools. Each school has to go through an accreditation review every five years. This is a very tough process and if the review committee feels you are graduation too many students it might cost you your accreditation.</p>
<p>The positive side to this is that it remains a very collegial profession. I know pretty much every major architect practicing in my city. We may compete intensely for a project, but afterwards get together for a beer. The only aspect of the profession that I have not enjoyed are the inevitable slumps in business that come with each recession. This has been a particularly brutal cycle, and I would guess that 10% to 20% of the architects working at the peak in 2008 will find something else to do for a living and will never return to the profession. When you combine this loss with all the retiring baby boomers and I think someone graduating 2 to 4 years from now will find themselves a very desirable commodity with much better opportunities for advancement.</p>
<p>My one bit of advice is to not graduate with significant student loans. The profession provides a fair wage, but not nearly enough to cover $100,000+ in student loans.</p>
<p>Many architects today are competing for any kind of work they can get. As an architect for a city agency in NYC, I work with many consulting architects. I recently was asked by a consultant I worked with previously to write a recommendation to India, as this architect is seeking projects there and is on a “short list” for a big commission to design a fashion school in that country.</p>
<p>We have no real design work to speak of at the moment; it is all brickwork repair, roofing repair, elevator replacement and new water tanks. We used to have good design work, but we now need to focus on infrastructure. Even for that we have many consultants fighting for the work. Unfortunate but true.</p>
<p>Many thanks for the responses, Rick and NYC. I am not about to dissuade my daughter from going for her BArch, but from what I am hearing, success, or rather, satisfaction in this field sounds like answering a “calling.” I’ve had a few aquaintances over the years who were architects, but at the time, I never had the philosophical discussions with them as to how happy they were with their chosen profession. (I do clearly remember a couple of fraternity brothers frantically pulling all-nighters to finish projects!!) I was startled to see just how small the field was, as listed in the NY Times article I cited above. Reading that statistic prompted me to ask about the profession. I hope my daughter finds much satisfaction in her goal, and quite frankly, I think (and hope and pray) that she should do well. Now to figure out which school she fits the best…</p>
<p>Again, many thanks for your responses, and especially Rick - I’ve greatly enjoyed reading your insightful comments on this forum.</p>
<p>QT thank you. I wish your daughter the best of luck. Just tell her to follow her heart, because after a couple of semesters of studio she will know whether this is going to be a fulfilling career.</p>