Harvard Department of City and Regional Planning Program Denies Admission to a Woman

In 1961 Phyllis Richman applied to the Harvard Department of City and Regional Planning. 

The department responded "...our experience, even with brilliant students, has been that married women find it difficult to carry out careers in planning, and hence tend to have some feeling of waste about the time and effort spent in professonal education. (This is, of course, true of almost all graduate professional studies.)" The full letter from Harvard in 1961.

Richman never finished her application to Harvard and pursued a career in writing. She found the old letter going through her attic recently and thought that it was time to finally respond, "The problem, I suspect, was the narrowness of your time frame. Google tells me that your wife earned two master’s degrees and a doctorate, and built an impressive resume in research, conference planning and social action. Do you still think of her graduate studies as a waste of time?" Her full response.

I can't decide if reading the APA's Salary Survey Summary is hopeful or still a little frustrating?

The gender gap in earnings still exists, though it has changed slightly for the better in the last four years. For example, in 2008, females earned 85 cents on the dollar, whereas earnings in 2012 are up to 88 cents on the dollar. The gender gap grows with increasing experience.

Cities For Women

I couldn't think of a more appropriate way to start the new Women in Planning + Development Blog!

The Atlantic posted this article by Clare Foran, How to Design a City for Women.

"Sidewalks were widened so pedestrians could navigate narrow streets. And a massive staircase with a ramp running through the middle was installed... to make crossing easier for people with strollers and individuals using a walker or a wheelchair."

"Gender mainstreaming has been in place in the Austrian capital since the early 1990s. In practice, this means city administrators create laws, rules and regulations that benefit men and women equally. The goal is to provide equal access to city resources. And so far, officials say it's working."

"Women-Work-City was built with this in mind. It consists of a series of apartment buildings surrounded by courtyards. Circular, grassy areas dot the courtyards, allowing parents and children to spend time outside without having to go far from home. The complex has an on-site kindergarten, pharmacy and doctor’s office. It also stands in close proximity to public transit to make running errands and getting to school and work easier."

Has anyone been to Austria? Did this planning stand out?