The discussion on the topic of work-life balance which took place on Thursday 25. 10. 2018 at 19:00 in the Lapidary of Bethlehem Chapel in Prague. The presentations were given by an architect Sabina Riß and a lawyer Šárka Homfray, Monika McGarrell Klimentová joined them in the discussion. The discussion was part of the accompanying program of the exhibition “Dear Architects… — Ethics in Architecture”.
Sabina Riß: The Working Conditions in the Profession of Architecture
Sabina Riß will present an international research in which she has dealt with the working conditions in the profession of architecture and their impacts on architects in different countries (Germany, Switzerland, United Kingdom, US, Canada, Australia…). This research has been conducted prior to the study Reconciling Architectural Profession and Family Life [Vereinbarkeit von Architekturberuf und Familie] (2015) and her seminar at the Vienna University of technology on the representation of women in architecture (2017).
She will talk about the way the architecture profession is practised which is based on a specific historical habitus and comes along with social problems and such being specific to that particular profession. She will also talk about the situation at universities and issues architects face while finding their way into the profession, such as long working hours, low wages, mostly small-scale practices, precarious work, low career prospects… And specifically for women: the lack of female role models and struggles for professional and private life balance under these circumstances. This often develops into barriers and lead to a higher rate of women dropping out of the profession. To explain all that more in detail, she will differentiate between working conditions and prospects of women employed in architectural offices, being self-employed, being partners in offices – often with male architects, and teaching at universities. All the studies conclude that women tend to take their difficulties as individual problems, whereas they are in fact systemic problems within the field of architecture.
Sabina Riß is an architect, urban planner, educator and researcher with more than 20 years of international experience. Since 2012, she has worked at the Institute of Architecture and Design at the Vienna University of Technology. Sabina Riß has conducteda research on life–work balance, published in a book Vereinbarkeit von Architektenberuf und Familie [Reconciling Architectural Profession and Family Life] (2015). Later, she was engaged in a research on the gender equality in architecture practice.
+
Šárka Homfray: Freelance and Creative Jobs as Precarious Work and How It Is Different for Women
The Czech legislation, while seemingly gender neutral, in many cases does not respect women and their various needs in different life stages. This painfully applies when it comes to flexible and alternative work arrangements and contracts, especially in freelance and creative jobs. While freelancing, in general, is bordering on precarious, specifically for young women it is increasingly difficult to do their work, protect their rights and make a living. The presentation points out legislative hurdles and complications with some suggestions for improvement.
Šárka Homfray studied law at the Law Faculty of Charles University in Prague and works as a lawyer for Trade Union of State Bodies and Organizations. In her work, she deals with unequal treatment, discrimination and gender aspects of labour law, and she takes part in various research projects. She is interested in stereotypes and generalisations and their influence on our lives and regularly publishes in professional and lay media.
+
Monika McGarrell Klimentová is a lecturer, consultant on gender mainstreaming and project coordinator. She works as HR at the Prague Institute of Planning and Development, earlier at the Participation Office. She graduated from the Master of Social Geography and Regional Development at the Charles University in Prague. She has experience in the non-profit sector in the Czech Republic and abroad, she has worked for example for the British Council and Women’s Congress in Prague; in the Forum 50 % she coordinated projects aimed at promoting equal opportunities for women and men.