A time to honor women’s contributions to American history
Every year March is designated as Women’s History Month, a time to honor women’s contributions to American history. In 1980, President Jimmy Carter issued the first formal proclamation to declare a National Women’s History Week, and subsequent laws have changed the designation to include the entire month of March. The 2021 Theme of Women’s History Month, as set by the National Women’s History Alliance, is “Valiant Women of the Vote: Refusing to be Silenced,” to celebrate the Suffrage Centennial.
The Department of Urban Design and Planning is proud of the many women who have earned and are currently pursuing their degrees in the CEP, MUP, MIPM, and Ph.D. programs. Generally, the percentage of women enrolled in UDP programs is ~60% as compared to men. However, there is much progress to be made in the profession. According to Data USA: Urban & Regional Planners, there are more men than women employed as urban and regional planners, and within the field, men earn higher salaries than women. For women of color, the disparities are even greater.
March is a great time to familiarize yourself with women planners and to read articles and resources about women in planning. To that end, the Department of Urban Design and Planning has compiled several resources below – by no means exhaustive – to expand your knowledge.
American Planning Association Planning Advisory Service (PAS) Memo
Integrating Gender Mainstreaming into U.S. Planning Practice
https://planning-org-uploaded-media.s3.amazonaws.com/publication/download_pdf/PASMEMO-2019-11-12-rev.pdf
American Planning Association Women & Planning
https://women.planning.org/
United Nations Women & United Nations Habitat
https://www.unwomen.org/en
https://unhabitat.org/gender-and-urban-planning
The World Bank
Gender-Inclusive Cities: Can Urban Planning Take into Account Women and Minorities?
Download: Handbook for Gender-Inclusive Urban Planning and Design
NextCity
Urban Planning Has a Sexism Problem
It’s time for women to be front and center in the movement for cities.
https://nextcity.org/features/view/urban-planning-sexism-problem
Katrina Johnston-Zimmer