Dear Female Architect !!
A female architect is a beautiful creature who decided to enter the male dominant major to convert her art passion to something that can affect and benefit people lives either a building, bridge , amazing landscape you name it !
But in this trip of proving to society and herself that she can do it , she does the most horrific mistake. i am a female architect and i admit of doing that as well. lets go from beginning you spent tons of money while studying architecture. you traveled long distances , went to meetings and sites but the second you step into the real world you break!
how ? mostly fresh female architects are so desperate for work for experience sake or just getting into the market then they start compromising a lot of things. mainly women don't have a huge financial burden as men thus , they tend to accept less amount of salary or no money at all thinking they might impress their Boss ! be aware the boss will be kind to you and you will feel amazing so good at your job but the minute something happen and you change your way in work; such as working only 9 hours , taking a weekend off the boss will hunt for another fresh graduate who is ready to do it all !
Dear Female Architect by being this nice , you are breaking the market standards and that's hurting a lot people financial - our male colleagues - who has entire families to spend on , and your self, accepting low salaries , working over time without being paid for it , coming on weekends every week in the month , so you can finish the work and every compromising tactic you have used just to prove to others you can be an architect wont work ! So you just graduated , make tiny very tiny compromises work extra 30 min only , take your lunch breaks , demand salary according to market and according to Qatar ratings its 5000 min for 9 hours of work, be easy on your self and develop in slowly but steady.
Another way to do it , is by taking courses after work that will improve your skills , go to networking meetings or events for architects that's also stepping into the market .. almost every country has one like in Qatar we have Architects Hub !
That's a small piece of advice from a young female architect , don't worry we will all be the next Zaha Hadid!!
