On November 9th, the AIANY Women in Architecture Committee hosted the Practice and Motherhood Forum, led and moderated by Rena Mande. The event featured ten women in the field, each sharing their experience with motherhood as a working parent. We heard a variety of ways to approach the balance of motherhood and a career, all challenging and successful in their own ways. The panel focused on different stories of planning to start a family, managing it all, and takeaways of how we overcome systemic inadequacies of working while parenting. We got a peak into a day in the life of architect moms, in which we learned that there’s no one way of structuring time. We discussed being deliberate in your values about commitments to children, work, and type of work. We heard about learning from our children and becoming agile in the unpredictability of parenting and how those skills benefit us in the workplace. And importantly, we heard how fulfilling it is to be a mother and that it is not only possible as a driven, career-oriented woman but also enriching.

We are grateful for our moderator and the ten moms who participated in the discussion. In addition to the information shared by the speakers, Rena also recommended two good reads for new or future parents (links below): Pay Up by Reshma Saujani and Drop the Ball by Tiffany Dufu, with a foreword by Gloria Steinem.