The 2024 edition of NCARB’s annual data publication, NCARB by the Numbers, is now available! Focusing on data from the 2023 calendar year, this year’s publication provides an inside look at demographic data for the profession, including increased representation in the population of licensed architects.
Over the past several years, NCARB has implemented several changes to improve equity and diversity on the path to licensure, with the ultimate goal of improving representation among licensed practitioners. Greater diversity in the candidate population is beginning to make its way to the pool of architects. One of the best places to see this change in action is by comparing the population of all licensed architects to the population of new licensed architects.
1 in 3 new architects is a person of color, and 2 in 5 are women.
In 2023, 34% of new architects identified as a person of color, compared to just 25% of new architects in 2019, with steady growth in representation each year.
Similarly, when looking at the pool of all licensed architects, only 27% are women; however, when looking at the pool of new architects, that proportion is much higher (43%). Over the past 5 years, gender representation has increased from 38% to 43% for women in the new architect population.
62% of architects are white men.
While new architect demographics show progress, the architect population is still overwhelmingly male and white—in 2023, nearly two-thirds of architects were white men. A deeper look at trends for specific racial and ethnic groups shows that while the proportion of Asian and Hispanic or Latino architects is increasing, representation for Black or African American architects has held steady at roughly 2% of the practitioner population.
Nearly half of licensure candidates identify as a person of color.
As we continue to push for greater diversity and equity at all levels of the architecture profession, progress is most evident in the licensure candidate population. Nearly half—48%—of new Record holders, 46% of candidates reporting experience, and 43% of candidates taking the exam identify as a person of color. This suggests that we’ll continue to see growth in representation over the years ahead.
About NCARB by the Numbers
The findings in NCARB by the Numbers are pulled from NCARB’s database of nearly 125,000 licensure candidates and architects, making this annual report the most comprehensive source for licensure statistics.
Learn more about trends on the path to licensure in the 2024 edition of NCARB by the Numbers!
