ABSTRACT
The surveys examined in Chapter 9 indicate that horizontal occupational segregation affects women within housing organisations. Women are over-represented in sections to do with welfare and care, severely underrepresented in technical and development sections and underrepresented at professional and senior level in finance. It seems relevant therefore to look at some of the professional bodies concerned with building and finance and assess whether women are disadvantaged in these professions and, if so, what has been done about this. This enquiry was carried out in autumn 1984 and again in spring 1992. The organisations chosen were:
The Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) The Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICA)
All these organisations kept statistics of the numbers and proportions of women’s membership (except the Institute of Housing in 1984). Research had been done on this issue in the RTPI, RIBA and ICA. The 1983-84 and 1991-92 statistics for each professional body are shown in Table 10.1. In order to make comparisons possible, corporate members were distinguished from students. The corporate member figures are examined in Table 10.1 and student figures in Table 10.2. The total number of members in 1991 is given to indicate the relative size of these organisations.
