ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the Spanish context in respect to economic and gender equality, and then describes the situation of women architects in the context of higher education and in the profession. It outlines the research methods and discusses the empirical findings relating to the vulnerability of women architects when confronting the consequences of the economic downturn. In short, high qualification levels have not protected women architects from low pay and insecure and unpredictable contexts. Women architects employed in the public sector as tenured civil servants or temporary employees found this decent work and a secure refuge from the vulnerability and concerns caused by the recession. In the context of a lengthy recession, Spanish women architects have a higher unemployment rate and lower salaries than men. The 'real' self-employed participants owned their practice either as sole practitioners or as partners with their husbands and/or colleagues.
