FORAship: A Scholarship + Internship Program
Architects FORA is so excited to announce the launch of our new Scholarship and Internship program, the FORAship!
In addition to the scholarship, we are offering a full-time paid internship for the summer that becomes a flexible part-time position for the following school year.
At FORA we feel one of the most important contributions we can make to our profession is an equitable practice that promotes belonging. We understand that more diversity means better design, and that improving representation in architecture won’t happen through passive means. Underrepresented students deserve robust, active, and sustained support.
Knowing students often only receive scholarships and grants their first year in school, our aim is to provide both monetary support and an opportunity for professional growth for more advanced students who may be more likely to drop out of their program.
We feel very fortunate to be able to offer this opportunity to a student this year and appreciate the challenge to design a better internship experience as a remote practice. There will be no scanning of documents or organizing of materials libraries like we experienced in our traditional in-person internships - no no! We can do better.
During the FORAship, our intern will work closely with President Leah Alissa Bayer, observing the ins and outs of business management and helping with tasks such as marketing, business development, finances, research, policy, operations, and more. Additionally, our selected intern will join a project team to shadow and participate in consistent project development throughout their year-long program, so they can observe and contribute to all phases of architectural design. We appreciate how smart, talented, and driven architecture students are, and want to honor their efforts with compelling, challenging, and meaningful work.
It’s our hope that this well-rounded experience will better prepare students for leadership in practice upon graduation, and provide valuable experience hours towards becoming licensed architects.
Here are some stats for you [1]:
In 2021, Black licensure candidates represented only 4% of those who completed their experience hours (AXP) and only 2.3% of recently licensed architects.
In 2021, Latinx candidates represented only 9.8% of new architects.
Comparatively, white men account for 63.8% of all architects while white architects in general make up 82.6% of all of those who are licensed.
Finally, just 0.5% of NCARB certificate holders are Black women, a number that has increased only 0.1% since 2017.
Again, we can do better.
And maybe a little selfishly, we hope our interns keep in touch and consider joining our team officially after they graduate (but we totally understand if they want to try new things and experience something different).
You can learn more about our program here, including eligibility, award details, and submission requirements. We will offer the FORAship annually, so if you’ve missed it this year, mark your calendar for March of next year! Who knows, maybe we’ll have a few openings next time.
Wrapping up - we hope this opportunity excites students and inspires other firm leaders to continue to invest in the future of our profession. If our small firm can do it, so can you!
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