Architecture has always been a profession where ‘who you know’ is key. Today, companies are increasingly promoting – and financially incentivizing – referrals from existing staff.

This again disproportionately affects those already under-represented in the industry, with 98 per cent of referrals matching the racial profile of the person doing the referring.
who tend to be from white, male, middle-class backgrounds – choosing those students who afforded and attended the best universities and achieved the highest grades.

Many firms are already taking key steps to address the issue of the lost generation within their recruitment process. Steps include appointing a diverse panel to review applications and conduct interviews and tackling unconscious bias by blind Resume review. Many are also working with specialist recruiters like Archipro Staff Agency, where diversity and inclusion is a core value.