Our guidebook may seem, at the surface, unrelated to issues of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), but we believe the conversation around how AEC firms value themselves, the contracts they use, the negotiations they engage in, and how and when they collect their payments, is all too relevant to the solution to how we advance the industry. Because if we value our expertise and our services, if we charged and collected on our real value, then the conversation of how to plan, fund, and act on DEI initiatives would be a much easier one. If our industry could exalt the same flexibility, benefits, pay, and work/life balance as our peers in technology and other professional services industries, our recruiting challenges would not be quite so insurmountable. Introduction How this Handbook Came About and the Significance of $25,000 The attention-grabbing title we gave this handbook was slightly tongue-in-cheek initially, because we really wanted to hook the audience’s attention. However, as we really dug into the research and data, the joke was no longer funny – as illustrated throughout, our profession actually is being held hostage by our own practices. By the Numbers According to research from the American Association of University Women, women with bachelor’s degrees graduate with an average of $2,700 more in student loan debt than their male peers. 1 That gap compounds over time, as women take two years longer on average to pay off their debt, with the interest adding up. In AEC, they have 30% less total compensation (see graphic on page 14), and studies suggest that burnout, stress, and exhaustion affect women more so than men, often because they take on more work to achieve equal or less recognition of their competency and skill in the workplace due to bias in reviews, hiring, and promotion considerations. In response to the question, “In the last few months, which of the following have you felt consistently at work?” women reported feelings of burnout 10% more so than men in 2021. 2 In AEC, we sometimes treat professional stress as a perennial (despite being avoidable) problem, but in 2022 a third of female professionals considered leaving the workforce due to burnout. 3 The cost of hiring and onboarding one new employee is between $50,000- $100,000. Turnovers at this rate is not a sustainable system , employee retention is a much more cost-effective approach and needs to be the priority. 1. https://www.aauw.org/issues/education/student-debt/ 2. https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey/featured%20insights/diversity%20and%20inclusion/women%20in%20the%20 workplace%202021/svgz-womenworkplace2021-v11-ex4.svgz 3. https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/diversity-and-inclusion/women-in-the-workplace
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