From School to Office: Recent Graduates’ Perceptions of Architectural Education and Practice

Recent graduates of architecture schools often report a mismatch between their experiences in academia and their experiences in the profession. We relate the findings of the first phase of a more extensive exploration that will examine these graduates’ experiences, investigate the nature of the relationship between education and practice, and develop suggestions for bringing the two worlds into closer alignment. During our time both as licensed architects and educators, we have joined others in observing a disconnect between the academy and the office. In schools, we have seen priority given to “design” architects, with little attention paid to “architects of record” who are often responsible for the long and messy process of bringing visions to reality. In practice, we have seen interns who expected to design high-profile projects become disillusioned once exposed to the fuller, more complex nature of architectural practice. Practitioners have expressed their frustration with the unrealistic expectations and lack of appropriate preparation of recent graduates. Following a brief literature review on the relationship of education to practice, we present a questionnaire administered to recent alumni of Virginia Tech. We ask these alumni to describe their understanding of practice gained while in school, their sense of preparation when entering the profession, and their observations about the nature and degree of alignment between these two realms. In our conclusions, we describe the relationship between a more theoretical and design-focused architectural education and the obligation of the architect to sustain a viable practice, to respond effectively to client-defined project needs and budget, and to ensure the health, safety and welfare of society. The ultimate goal of the research is to provide students, faculty, and practitioners with a clearer picture of the best ways to adequately prepare students to enter the profession.

https://doi.org/10.35483/ACSA.AM.108.93

Volume Editors

ISBN
978-1-944214-26-5