Why We Celebrate Women's History Month: A WPD Essay

Why We Celebrate Women's History Month: A WPD Essay

Introduction

The Women & Planning Division was created by and for women in the planning profession in 1979. Over the Division’s 40+ year history, one of the longest running Divisions in APA, the needs of women in planning have evolved but our mission remains the same:

To provide a national network supporting women in the planning profession and advocating for the needs of women in the planning practice.

In this Division, we expose and champion the ways in which our profession can better support women in the workplace; enhancing equity, closing the gender wage gap, equally paying women for equal work, flexible workplace policies for home/work balance, providing affordable childcare options, and seeing gender parity in our most basic of institutional accolades; FAICP inductees. We will continue this message to overturn these stark differences that we see through our work as a Division, programming, networking, connecting, and on the national stage at NPC.

Women in Planning Yesterday

[1] Prior to the advent of Second Wave Feminism (early 1960s-80s), planning was conducted by (and for) men without consideration for the unique needs of women in our communities. Women in planning professions, with a few notable exceptions, were generally relegated to secretarial roles. The planning profession primarily viewed women as:

● Wives, mothers and homemakers

● Recipients of social services

● Advocates for civic betterment, beautification, and reform

The feminist movement identified both the need to consider the diverse needs of women in our communities and the need to promote, encourage, and support women in the planning profession. In 1970, a Women’s Caucus presented "Women in Planning: A Condemnation” at the American Society of Planning Officials’ (ASPO)[2] national conference, calling on ASPO to direct resources for:

● Addressing the needs of women in the planning profession

● Encouraging women to enter the planning profession

● Monitoring discrimination in employment, among other changes

In response, ASPO established a Committee on Women's Rights, with members including Frederica Kramer, Joyce Whitley, Jack Meltzer, Mary McLean, and Idamae Garrott.

In 1971, the American Institute of Planners (AIP) convened the Women's Rights Policy Paper Committee, naming Jerome L. Kaufman, Constance Lieder (later AIP President), Trudy McFall, Diana C. Donald, Katherine Messinger, Norman Krumholz, and Gloria McGregor (later California Chapter President). In response to the Committee’s findings, AIP revised its Code of Professional Responsibility, requiring equal treatment of women in the planning profession. AIP and ASPO also formed the (short lived) Joint Committee on Women's Rights and sponsored a workshop leading to publication of Planning, Women, and Change by Karen E. Hapgood and Judith N. Getzels in 1973. The committee dissolved in 1975, after publishing a survey of professional women.

Women in academia were also integral to mainstreaming gendered perspectives in urban planning. Margarita McCoy, Sylvia White, and Marsha Ritzdorf were among the first women straddling the line between academia and practice and promoting the integration of women’s issues in planning practice and study. McCoy was also one of the first chairs of an academic planning department and was active in both AIP and ASPO. As the number of women in academia grew in the 1970s and ‘80s, their impact on planning practice grew, as well.

In 1978, Constance Lieder, president of the newly formed American Planning Association (APA), convened the Contemporary Issues Task Force to follow up on the earlier work conducted by ASPO’s Committee on Women's Rights and AIP’s Women's Rights Policy Paper Committee. To mitigate perceptions that promoting women’s issues in planning amounted to political advocacy (potentially problematic from an organizational standpoint), the Committee’s recommendations centered the needs of women as clients (i.e., community members) and advancing technical knowledge, rather than focusing on discrimination against, and advancement of, women in the planning profession. This distinction allowed the Committee to recommend forming APA’s Planning for Women technical division (later changed to the less hierarchical sounding Planning for Women), dedicated to researching and sharing information related to planning’s impacts on women.

The proposed Planning for Women division was met with considerable opposition from APA board members (mostly men). The Committee was forced to repeatedly explain that the division was not focused on “affirmative action,” and that the Division’s focus would be on legitimate gendered issues and impacts in planning. APA’s general membership was far more accepting of the proposed division. Ultimately, the new Division was adopted into the APA organization and interested members attended the Division’s first meeting at APA’s 1979 annual conference in New Orleans. At that meeting, Mary Deal was elected chair and the Division’s by-laws (adopted in the Fall of 1979) were drafted. The by-laws included the following objectives:

● To address issues facing the planning and development of communities, cities, regions, states, and the nation related to the changing roles of women and men

● To create a national network of planners, decision-makers and persons actively involved in organizations which are concerned about similar issues

● To promote professional growth of persons interested in these issues and to improve the level of competence in planning for women

● To advance technical knowledge and to improve techniques of dealing with these issues

● To promote the analysis and examination of these issues at every level of government and in colleges and universities

Within a few months, Planning for Women grew to become APA’s largest technical division. One of Planning for Women’s first projects was co-sponsoring a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development competition soliciting proposals and descriptions of replicable programs serving women - 131 proposals were submitted. Other early Division activities included contributing to a special issue of APA’s Planning Magazine, advocating for childcare at national conferences, supporting the Diana Donald Scholarship program[3], representing the interests of APA in Washington, D.C., serving on APA’s Task Force on Women and Minorities, reporting women’s participation rates on panels and at sessions at APA’s national conference, demanding reporting changes in APA’s salary survey methodologies to collect and tabulate data by gender and race and track discrepancies, and advocating to AICP’s Ethics Committee for changes in the AICP Code of Ethics prohibiting sexual harassment, which has still not been adequately addressed.

Women & Planning Today

As the needs of women and planning have evolved over the decades, so has the mission and priorities of our Division. The Division’s by-laws were last updated in 2022, to better incorporate the Division's goals related to enhancing equity, diversity, and inclusion - in the planning field and in our Division. While the planning profession has made strides toward gender equity, there is still work to be done: According to the 2018 APA Salary Survey, women earn 89 cents on the dollar and comprise just 22 percent of the AICP College of Fellows. The division is actively working to reverse these trends through NPC sessions, webinars, and collaborations with groups like Cornell University’s Women’s Planning Forum. The division also offers year-round opportunities to connect, including a book club, social media, and quarterly newsletters. Women and Planning annually presents a full slate of events at NPC including mobile and learning sessions, our Women and Planning Division Networking Reception, and annual Business Meeting, open to all.

Annual Work Plan

Each year, Division leadership collaborate to create a comprehensive work plan, outlining our priority goals and actions for the coming year. The contents of each year’s plan are informed by annual goals, member needs, APA programming, emerging issues, and other opportunities related to the Division’s mission. Our current adopted Work Plan is built around the following goals:

● Supporting professional development with scholarship programs

● Being the “go-to” resource for all women planners

● Providing programming supporting professional development, personal growth, and honoring women in planning, past and present

● Providing a platform to discuss equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) topics, and challenging the system to break down systemic barriers

● Supporting other population-based Divisions

● Achieving Gender Parity in APA membership, AICP, and FAICP by 2040

● Closing the wage and leadership gender gap in planning by 2040

Division Programming & Resources

To meet the goals described in our work plan, the Women and Planning Division plans and

executes a robust program of research, grants, scholarships, and professional development each year. These professional development resources seek to remove the barriers and limitations women experience. We encourage all women in the planning field to reach for positions of leadership and grow in their career by providing them with access to professional development through our programming, resources, partnerships, and scholarships. The Division strives to incorporate new directions and pivot as new opportunities emerge. Several notable initiatives within our work program include the Scholarship Program, Education Sessions, Advancing FAICP Gender Parity, and our Mentorship Program.

Scholarship Program: The Division awards scholarships supporting individual members and supporting organizational change. The Division’s scholarships are application based, supporting women who are trying to raise awareness of critical issues impacting women in the profession, assisting women with achieving their professional credentials and supporting women who are working to make the profession and our communities more equitable, diverse, inclusive and accessible. Our thoughtful and inclusive scholarship program is extremely flexible, maximizing the usefulness of this funding for women with a diverse range of circumstances and situations. We are meeting our members’ needs where they are at and are listening to how we can better support day-to-day needs, helping women to excel in our profession.

Educational Sessions: The Division delivers carefully curated educational programming though Division-sponsored events and at the National Planning Conference. We strive to shine light on controversial topics like building awareness of gender-based violence and giving women the tools to stand up to personal attacks on public employees. We create and deliver content based on topics received directly from our membership from our bi-annual survey, networking events, and other correspondence.

Advancing FAICP Gender Parity: Despite constituting 40% of AICP members, female AICP College of Fellows (FAICP) inductees represented only 21% of College members (living and deceased) in 2016. The Women & Planning Division responded to this alarming finding by submitting a memo to the AICP Commission on August 26, 2019 with an update on the Division’s work related to FAICP gender parity. We asked for the AICP Commission’s help and implored the Commission to take immediate and specific actions related to increasing gender parity in FAICP. Despite these efforts, the share of female members only increased to 29% by 2022. We are disappointed by the lack of progress and the lack of meaningful action towards rectifying this gross imbalance. In response, the Women & Planning Division submitted a memo to the AICP Board of Commissioners on January 31, 2023 reiterating our demands for meaningful progress towards achieving gender parity in APA membership, AICP, and FAICP by 2040. The Division will continue supporting members seeking FAICP nomination support through the Division, but we felt compelled to include a disclaimer in the call for nominations sent to members, alerting them to disturbing trends of gender and race disparity in FAICP.

Division Mentoring Program: The Division has established a successful Mentoring Program that connects students and early or mid-career Division members with women in positions of leadership. This program is intended to enhance career growth, member professional development, and increase the representation of women in positions of leadership in planning. The program reached our target number of 50 mentee participants within a day of the launch and has become a model program to other Chapters and Divisions.

“The inaugural mentorship program was an absolute life changer for me. I am so grateful for being connected with my mentor and the impact she has had on my career and growth. Thank you so much!”

“Please continue the mentoring program. I participated in the pilot and my match was INCREDIBLE. I would love to continue to grow my network and give back to the field in this way. Thank you!”

Women in Planning Tomorrow

Despite over 40+ years of advocacy and professional development, women still face significant challenges in the planning profession and in their communities. One topic being explored by researchers and academics is the “invisibility” of women’s needs. Caroline Criado Perez explores this issue in her 2019 book, “Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men,” a damning critique of the impacts on women of a world built by, and for, men. This finely researched work explores issues ranging from transportation systems that fail to consider differences in women’s travel needs versus men’s, to the physical health impacts of women forced to use military equipment designed for men.

The Women & Planning Division is currently collaborating with Cornell University to promote and elevate research exploring Invisible Women in Comprehensive Plans. This research acknowledges the male bias inherent in planning paradigms and offers recommendations for confronting and deconstructing this issue.

The Division is also elevating research findings exploring the disparate impacts of remote work on women, following the COVID pandemic. The term “kinkeeping” was coined in 1985 by Carolyn Rosenthal to describe women’s invisible, unpaid, and unacknowledged physical and emotional labor. The additional “kinkeeping” burdens on women during the COVID pandemic, like managing children’s schoolwork and work-from-home expectations, exacerbated the “kinkeeping” burdens on women, without adding any accommodations or resources supporting women attempting to balance the responsibilities of work, home, and health.

Professional measures of success continue to be traditionally-driven, focused on accomplishments, public recognition, and awards evaluated by peer groups of similar circumstance. Both Division members’ discussions and literature report that women continue to have substantial responsibility for child or elder care and household commitments, while balancing full-time work commitments. As a result, women continue to have limited time for professional growth and development, personal commitments, volunteer commitments, and self-care. This constant push and pull women experience along with being stretched in multiple directions leads to less time to meet traditional measures of professional success. As a profession we need to redefine success, call for a change to both the written and implied measures of professional contribution, and realign values. At the same time, we need to continue to acknowledge that women lift an unbalanced burden, raise awareness to the importance of both physical and emotional health, and create low time and financial barrier opportunities for women to connect with and participate in professional organizations. Work to ‘break the glass ceiling’ or ‘taking a seat at the table’ have raised the voice of women. This Division calls for this work to go farther though, as it is not enough to support women in how to ‘break through’ or ‘take a seat.’ We are calling to action changing the rules and measures that give you access in the first place.

Another critical issue facing women in planning is lack of representation at the highest levels of organizational leadership. McKinsey’s Women in the Workplace report (2022) notes that “women—and especially women of color—are still dramatically underrepresented in corporate America…especially true in senior leadership: only one in four C-suite leaders is a woman, and only one in 20 is a woman of color.”

McKinsey notes that a major driver of this issue is a “broken rung” at the first step to management, generating a dynamic where women can never catch up to men because they are underrepresented from the start. We see this dynamic reflected in the planning profession in both our salary survey, where we see fewer women at the highest levels of planning leadership, and in disparities of nominations to AICP’s College of Fellows.

Supporting Women Experiencing Harassment

WPD is proud of our efforts raising awareness of sexual harassment occurring in APA and the critical need for appropriate anti-harassment protections, policies, and procedures. Over its 44-year history, WPD has established a reputation as a safe space to share and address sensitive issues and as a group we are committed to advocating for the rights, safety, and elevation of women in planning. This includes raising women’s voices in the profession, shining lights on the needs of women in planning, cultivating opportunities for women to connect, identifying needed changes, calling for accountability when justified, and demonstrating solidarity when faced with adversity. Achieving these goals often means pushing back against the status quo, discussing uncomfortable topics, demanding accountability from others, and holding ourselves accountable for not remaining silent when positive changes can be made.

Women & Planning Division leaders have been substantially involved in elevating ongoing and unaddressed issues of harassment for at least three years, behind the scenes. In January 2023, Division leaders were disappointed when APA failed to take meaningful action mitigating harassment, after announcing that a widely recognized member of our organization was stripped of professional credentials for perpetrating harassment against another APA member. Sadly, our professional organization took no proactive steps to better protect members or to reform identified failures in reporting and adjudication processes.

Through direct and timely communications including emails to our members, open communications with APA staff and leadership, virtual information sessions, and a petition we reached thousands of APA members, in our Division and beyond. We raised awareness of a serious issue and compelled APA to begin taking swift and meaningful action mitigating the perpetration of harassment and supporting a welcoming environment for all members of our professional organization. Our accomplishments are even more meaningful considering the significant lack of support and, at times, hostility directed at our Division from staff and national leadership. In spite of the baseless accusations lobbed at us, our Division managed to move the needle, resulting in significant improvements for members of our organization.

The following programs, policies, practices, and procedures were advanced, implemented or established as a direct result of the Women & Planning Division’s anti-harassment advocacy:
● Creation of APA Board of Directors Task Force to review APA’s policies and procedures related to harassment and discrimination and make recommendations.
● Appointment of AICP Ethics Committee sub-committee to review AICP’s ethical conduct complaint process and to recommend improvements.
● Establishment of APA’s Welcoming Environment initiative.
● Adoption and implementation of a Harassment and Discrimination Policy and Code of Conduct for APA meetings, conferences, and events.
● NPC23 Conference Ombudsperson

● Highly visible signage at NPC23 communicating the availability of supportive resources for people experiencing harassment.
● Inclusion of questions related to sexual harassment, for the first time, in APA’s Welcoming Environment survey administered in the Summer of 2023, developed by the Women & Planning Division.
● 2023 proposed amendments to APA bylaws directly respond to, and support, WPD’s recommendation to strengthen sanctions for violating APA’s sexual harassment and anti-discrimination policies by include a violation of APA’s sexual harassment and/or anti-discrimination policies as grounds for termination, suspension, and/or restriction of APA membership.

When you plan for women, you plan for all

The Women and Planning Division has and continues to create a safe space to raise women’s voices in the profession, shine a light on the needs of women in planning communities, connect with other women in planning, voice what needs to change, and show solidarity when faced with adversity. We are sometimes a quiet under-current, and we are sometimes a loud force - but we are always present.

“We are committed to never staying silent about the needs of all of the women we represent, it is the core of our mission.” Corrin Wendell, AICP WPD Chair, 2019-2022

Sometimes the work in the planning profession is a long, tough road and requires a lot of patience, especially when the direct effects of our influences and our plans reach 10, 20, sometimes 30 years into the future. So, we have to be strategic. We have to be optimistic that though the change may come after we are gone, it’s still worth doing. The success of the Women and Planning Division is not in a barrage of sudden changes, but rather in small measures. As Ruth Bader Ginsburg once said, "Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time."

For this Division, even if one student gets a job after graduation because of our mentorship program - we have succeeded. Even if one more friendship or partnership is made through our networking events - we have succeeded. Even if one more person gains paid parental leave through our advocacy - we have succeeded. And even if one more person is inspired to carry the torch of women in planning - we have succeeded. The Women and Planning Division continually strives to make a difference in the lives of our members and beyond.

Get Involved

Interested in becoming a member of the Women & Planning Division? Learn more by visiting our website, www.women.planning.org and join our LinkedIn Group here: bit.ly/WPD-LinkedIn

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WPD TIMELINE

1970: Women’s Caucus presents "Women in Planning: A Condemnation” at American Society of Planning Officials (APSO) national conference

1970: ASPO establishes Committee on Women's Rights

1971: AIP convenes Women's Rights Policy Paper Committee

1973: ASPO and AIP establish Joint Committee on Women's Rights

1973: Publication of Planning, Women, and Change (Karen E. Hapgood and Judith N. Getzels)

1975: Joint Committee on Women's Rights dissolved

1976-1977: Four women serve on AIP national board (Kathryn Cousins, Barbara Lukerman, April Young, Marjorie Macris)

1977: American Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP) and AIP annual conference in Missouri, a state that had not ratified the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex

1977: Jacqueline Leavitt presented paper on women in planning at ACSP and AIP annual conference

1977: AIP Board passed resolution expressing AIP's support for the ERA and tabled a resolution boycotting the next year's AIP conference scheduled to be held in Louisiana (an ERA non-ratified state)

1977: Resolution boycotting the Louisiana conference is not passed by AIP Board

1977: APSO Board elects to hold next conference in Miami Beach, Florida (an ERA non-ratified state)

1978: Constance Lieder elected as AIP’s first woman president

1978: Dorothy Walker elected ASPO President; chair of ASPO/AIP merger joint committee

1978: AIP California Chapter of AIP distributed The Time Has Come!!! (letter and questionnaire) advocating for AIP Women in Planning Department or caucus and sends recommendations including support of ERA to AIP Board

1978: American Planning Association formed following merger of ASPO and AIP

1978: Chicago selected for APA offices despite Illinois being an ERA non-ratified state

1978: APA Board establishes "Contemporary Issues Task Force"

1979: Task Force reports recommendations to APA Board including establishing a Planning for Women Division

1979: APA approves establishment of the technical division, Planning for Women; Mary Deal elected Chair of Division

1979: Division by-laws adopted

1979-80: Planning for Women Division grows to largest technical division in APA

2022: Bylaw revisions to update the Division purpose to include a platform to bring diversity, equity, and inclusion into action, and to call for gender parity with the profession and FAICP.

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Important Topics to Division members – Member Survey Results (2022)

Our members are most concerned about...

• Status and role of women in the planning profession
• Impacts of the built environment on women's health, safety, and everyday life
• Equity and opportunities for women of color
• Gender salary gap
• Planning FOR women
• Status and role of women in APA, AICP, or FAICP
• Equity of training and education opportunities
• Workplace topics like paid parental leave and affordable childcare

Our members are also interested in...

• Building connections with other women in the planning field
• Attracting, advancing, and retaining women in the planning workforce
• Providing professional development for students and young females
• Ensuring that conversations about feminism and women's issues in planning are conducted through an intersectional lens
• Including more women and people of color through inclusive planning processes
• Rejecting the double standards for women in the workplace - women must work harder, failures not acceptable, success not celebrated at same levels, etc.
• Recognizing and overcoming the unique challenges faced by women in the planning profession, including caretaking responsibilities
• Developing the soft skills women need in the workforce/in public leadership
• Uplifting other women by providing support networks, resources, and mentorship

We're Seeing More...

• Flexible work arrangements
• Breastfeeding support in the workplace
• Members who want to pursue AICP certification

The Division is doing exceptionally well at...

• Advocating for equity in the planning profession
• Mentoring students and emerging planners

More can be done to support and advocate for...

• Salary negotiations
• Paid parental leave
• On-time graduation
• Regaining full-time work after a pause
• Membership dues assistance
• More female leadership positions

The Division should focus on the following by-laws in 2024:

• Advancing the role of ALL women in planning and APA, with a particular focus on women part of traditionally underrepresented groups.
• Promoting professional growth of women in the planning field.
• Acting as a resource to APA, advocating for legislation and planning policy improving the welfare and status of women.

Other near-term focus areas should include...

• Reproductive rights and health access issues; this is too big right now to ignore
• Outreach to high schools and colleges to recruit more women and women of color into planning.

Division Programming Highlights

• Mentorship Program
• Support for Local Events
• NPC Slate of Events (ex. Public Discourse Series)
• Webinars (ex. Salary Negotiation, APA Career series - Hiring managers)
• Annual Women’s History Month programming
• Book Club
• Girls Who Plan Program/ Girl Scouts Patch efforts
• Scholarship and Grants
• Chapter and Student Engagement
• Member Survey

WPD is a LEADING Division in successful FAICP induction. Recent FAICP women inducted include:

● Sara Copeland, FAICP

● Dr. Jennifer Evans-Cowley, PhD, FAICP

● Silvia Vargas, FAICP

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References

[1] Adapted from History of the Division by Marjorie Macris, FAICP

[2] APA is the successor organization to APSO and the American Institute of Planners (AIP)

[3] Diana Donald, who passed away in 1975, was a Connecticut‐based planner who was recognized nationally for her contributions to the profession. At the time of her passing, at age 40, she was the First Vice President of the American Institute of Planners and was in line to become President. Her status in the association set a historical precedent for women in planning.