The professional career of spanish architects: Obstacles and facilitators

Abstract

Architecture as a profession has been already studied in countries such as Australia, Canada, France, the UK and the USA. However, there is a paucity of work with respect to the situation in Spain, a geographical context with specific cultural, social and economic features. In an attempt to address this research gap, we aim to depict Spanish architects’ experiences and concerns regarding their career and professional life. This paper draws on qualitative data comprising 38 semi-structured, in-depth interviews with Spanish architects of different age, gender and employment setting. Findings show that social capital is among the factors helping their careers the most, while women also identify reasons related to gender and work-family balance as a barrier.