AIA releases 2003 internship, career survey report

ArchVoices and the American Institute of Architects' National Associates Committee released its 2003 Internship and Career Survey Report on Oct. 17. The survey was conducted, compiled and analyzed jointly by the NAC and ArchVoices. The final report is available online at www.aia.org/nac and www.archvoices.org.

"I am excited to see this final report and have optimism that it will provide some answers, create additional questions, and will continue to fuel important discussions and critical thinking about architectural internship and the effect it has on the whole profession," said AIA Executive Vice President and CEO Norman Koonce, FAIA. "As we start to form the agenda for the AIA National Board of Directors in 2004, we are keeping emerging professionals, and their unique issues and concerns, as a priority for the board next year."

The 2003 survey was administered by e-mail this spring to approximately 20,000 interns, associate AIA members and young architects. From nearly 5,000 usable responses, a random sample of 1,000 was selected for processing and tabulation. This survey drew questions from other significant surveys on architectural internship in recent years and the findings of this report can be used as a benchmark comparison to the 1999 AIA National Survey of Internship, 1999 NCARB Architectural Internship Evaluation Project and the 2000 Survey of California Architectural Internship.

"The survey results will enable us to make more informed decisions about emerging professionals," said Shannon Kraus, AIA, a recently licensed architect in Dallas and associate director on the AIA Board of Directors.

"Too often, decisions that determine internship and registration requirements are made without actual data about the experiences of emerging professionals themselves. Not only does this survey and data afford us that opportunity, but if we are able to execute a survey like this on a regular basis, we'll be able measure trends and changes over time."

Major findings of the 2003 Internship and Career Survey include:

Nearly one-quarter of nonregistered respondents indicated they do not plan on pursuing a traditional career, but most still plan on pursuing registration.

Nearly all respondents indicated an interest in mentoring, while only half indicated satisfaction with the mentoring they were currently receiving.

Almost half of respondents indicated that they had received practical work experience while in school.

The average time to complete the National Council of Architectural Registration Board's Intern Development Program was significantly longer than the three years it is designed to take.

A majority of respondents who work in architecture or architecture-related firms reported that their firms exhibit good commitment to interns, yet half of all IDP interns reported that they would have to switch firms in order to complete IDP.

Most respondents who completed all nine divisions of the Architect Registration Examination took 1 1/2 years to complete the exam.

Of those eligible to take the ARE, lack of time to prepare was the most common reason for not taking it.

Approximately half of respondents that had started taking or completed the Architect Registration Examination indicated both education and internship prepared them adequately for the exam.

Nearly 90 percent of all survey respondents, including interns and registered architects, supported giving architecture school graduates access to the Architect Registration Examination concurrent with internship.

Community service was cited as a priority for most respondents, but less than one-third reported doing it regularly.

In addition to the question/answer responses, the 2003 survey elicited 986 narrative comments. While not part of the official scientific data that forms the basis of the survey report, these comments paint an equally important picture of the landscape and the internship process.

"For many respondents, this survey represented the first time that they were ever asked to evaluate their internship and early career experiences," said Vicky Boddie, associate AIA, an intern in Minneapolis and co-chair of the ArchVoices/NAC Survey Task Force.

"Their responses were illuminating, but I was equally moved by the passionate comments that included startling misconceptions about the basic fundamentals of (the intern development program). It is clear that it remains one of the most complex periods in the development of emerging professionals. These personal stories and statistics have really given us a window into how the (intern development program) process is, and is not, working for the profession."

ArchVoices is an independent, nonprofit organization and think tank on architecture education and internship.

The AIA National Associates Committee is a representative body of regional associates directors, one from each of the 18 AIA regions.

The NAC and its regional associates directors are charged to represent associate members of the AIA, both mainstream and alternative.