International architecture and design awards programmes have improved the gender balance of their judging panels this year, although men still outnumber women, according to a survey conducted by Dezeen following our Move the Needle initiative.
Of the eight awards programmes we surveyed for our Move the Needle campaign in 2018 ? set up to promote gender equality in architecture and design ? all have either increased or maintained the proportion of women on their judging panels in the past year.
On average, we found judging panels to be 42 per cent women, while previously the figure was 31 per cent.
More female jurors, but men still dominate
Despite the overall increase in female jurors, only three of the eight programmes we surveyed were close to an equal split between the genders on their panels: Architizer A+ Awards, Frame Awards and RIBA Awards. Like last year, Architizer A+ Awards was the only awards programme we contacted with a female-dominated architecture category jury. Although it didn't give the exact figure, it stated that 58 per cent of the panel will be women, equal to last year.
The organisers said they are also launching a spin-off awards programme this year, dedicated to products, "with a goal of gender parity prior to voting".
The programme that came the closest to a 50/50 split was Frame Awards, with 19 female judges to 21 male, equivalent to a 47.5 per cent female judging panel.
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