Invisible Women in Architecture: Comparative Analysis of Media Representation of Female Architecture Students in Projekt Journal
Invisible Women in Architecture: Comparative Analysis of Media Representation of Female Architecture Students in Projekt Journal

Summary/Abstract: Background: The first architectural school in Slovakia was established in 1946, after WWII. After years of traditional socio-cultural expectations regarding women’s roles, with the advent of communism in 1948, the regime declared gender equality, opening opportunities for the first women architects. Although the first female architecture students could be seen as breaking gender stereotypes, the change in broader media discourse proceeded slowly. Objective: Analysing the media representation of female architecture students in Projekt, the only Slovak professional architectural journal of the period, published since 1959, focusing on the years 1959–1995, and comparing it with that of their male peers. The primary focus is on the extent to which media coverage of female students’ work corresponded to their actual representation in architectural education, the nature of the work they presented, and the discourse in which they worked. Methods: The study combined quantitative research on architecture graduates with discourse analysis. For basic statistical evaluation, the dataset comprised a list of architecture graduates from 1950 to 1996 at the SVŠT. An architectural periodical, Projekt, was used to analyse female students’ projects compared with those of male students. Key aspects of the study included the types of authorship, the form of reflection on their work and comparison of the students featured with the total number of graduates. In addition, for the contextual analysis, data from the journal as well as interviews with 6 female architects were used. Results: The number of female graduates in the field of architecture at SVŠT exceeded half of all students in only two years, and the average percentage for the period was 35% of women in a year. Their presentation in Projekt journal was significantly lower than that of male students. The highest frequency of reflections of female students’ work was observed between 1973 and 1984. Analysis shows that the published female projects were mostly single-authored and in a theoretical framework. Female students often encountered subtle forms of discrimination. Discussion and conclusions: The findings of the study show a gap between the representation of female architecture students in architectural education and their visibility in the professional media environment. It is significant that women comprised more than a third of all students; however, their media coverage did not reflect this proportion. This oversight was largely unintentional, reflecting the influence of long-standing gender stereotypes.

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