Post-Doctoral Research Fellow
Dervla is qualified architect turned academic working on gender equity in the Irish architecture profession. Her project, funded by the Irish Research Council with the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI), looks at why women leave architecture, the gender breakdown in the profession, and attitudes towards gender equity in architecture.
As a former architect, Dervla's work is concerned with traversing the boundaries between the history of, and the practice of, architecture. Her current research interests include the relationship between architectural representation and experience – especially photography, architectural pedagogy, gender and feminism in teaching and practice, and the role architecture and its methods can play in restorative justice. She is a member of the Open Heart City collective of academics concerned with the legacy of the Magdalene laundries in Ireland.
When you are doing research with real potential to impact women’s lives, you feel a duty to do the very best you can. You want to ensure your research provides strong foundations for others to build upon and make real change towards greater equity for women.
In March 2023, GEIA will launch the 'Irish Architecture Career Tracker Survey' to track the careers of people (of all genders) with degrees in architecture or architectural technology, and find out about their attitudes and experiences in relation to key topics, such as working hours.
Gender Equity in Irish Architecture is funded by the Irish Research Council and the RIAI through an Enterprise Partnership Scheme Postdoctoral Fellowship, and can be followed on social media on Twitter @GenderEquityIA, Instagram GenderEquityIrishArchitecture and Facebook GenderEquityIrishArchitecture.