A multilevel conceptual framework for navigating gendered career trajectories in the architectural profession
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22419726 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Alison McFadyen (0000-0002-7906-6525, The University of Melbourne, corresponding author), Natalie Galea (0000-0002-9684-6953, The University of Sydney), Karen Burns (0000-0001-5691-634X, The University of Melbourne) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 36 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 98-110 |
| Publication date | 2026-01-02 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Labour & Industry: a journal of the social and economic relations of work (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1030-1763 • E-ISSN: 2325-5676 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/10301763.2026.2654995 |
| OpenAlex | W7151211979 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 33 |
Gender inequalities in careers often unfold gradually. Whilst individual events are important, longitudinal studies of careers offer insight into how gendered advantage and disadvantage can accumulate and compound over time. This article describes a novel multilevel conceptual framework for understanding gender in architectural career trajectories. It integrates three conceptual theories: gendered life course perspective, feminist institutionalism and concepts of cumulative advantage and disadvantage. Applying this framework to a longitudinal case study of the Australian architecture profession illuminates the complex interplay of enduring informal norms, historical legacies, and entrenched power dynamics operating within a large architecture firm. It highlights how organisational practices and gendered actors shape work in ways that create lasting gendered effects, limiting women’s career progression while reinforcing men’s advantage. Taken together, these findings reveal that gender inequality in architecture is not episodic but cumulative, driven by persistent informal norms and allocation practices that create path-dependent trajectories. Despite policy reforms, these deeply embedded rules reproduce male advantage and constrain women’s progression across the life course, demonstrating the resilience of gendered institutions over time.
Conceptual framework · Qualitative research · Architecture, Design, and Social History · Career Development and Diversity · Gender Diversity and Inequality
Institutional Theory in Political Science
Methods of Life Course Research
Why Institutions Matter
The Precious and the Precocious
Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance
The Logic of Appropriateness
Life Course and Gender
Why So Slow
Gender, Politics and Institutions
Systemic and Reflexive
The gendered dimensions of informal institutions in the Australian construction industry
Women’s Work Pathways Across the Life Course
An agenda for the study of institutions
Normative collusion in the industry ecosystem
Flexible careers across the life course
How is Institutional Formation Gendered, and Does it Make a Difference? A New Conceptual Framework and a Case Study of Police and Crime Commissioners in England and Wales
Comparing Political Institutions
How Are Political Institutions Gendered
Time, Human Agency, and Social Change
Political Science and the Three New Institutionalisms
From 'work-family' to 'flexible careers
Cumulative (Dis)advantage? The Impact of Labour Market Policies on Late Career Employment from a Life Course Perspective
| Highly cited | No |
|---|