Throughout history, the biggest names in architecture have always belonged to men. This article investigates why priority for prestigious industry positions is still given to men despite the increasing number of licensed, female architectural talent each year.

DESIGNING WOMEN:’There’s an influx of more women coming in, but the hurdles haven’t changed,’ says Rosa Sheng,an architect with Bohlin Cywinski Jackson in San Francisco.

Jason Henry for The Wall Street Journal

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More women than ever are applying to become architects, but far fewer attain their license or reach leadership positions in their firms, according to two industry reports.

The percentage of female applicants to the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards, the organization that administers the architecture exam, has hovered at 40% since 2012, the highest rate in the group’s history. Less than 10% of applicants were women 30 years ago, the report shows.

But the American Institute of Architects, the largest group of licensed U.S. architects, shows that only 19% of about 81,000 members were women as of June, up from 11% in 1994.

“There’s still a glass ceiling, ironically, in architecture,” said Rosa Sheng, senior associate at Bohlin Cywinski Jackson in San Francisco and chairwoman of the Missing 32% Project, a group that promotes equitable treatment of all architects. “There’s an influx of more women coming in, but the hurdles haven’t changed,” she said. It takes roughly 12 years to become a licensed architect, according to NCARB.

Julie Hacker, 56, a partner at Stuart Cohen & Julie Hacker Architects in Evanston, Ill., says one of the major obstacles for women is the lack of flexibility. Ms. Hacker, who designs luxury residential homes, says balancing a family with her career would have been more difficult at a larger firm.

Others have left architecture for other paths. Elisa Orlanski Ours, head of planning and design at Corcoran Sunshine in New York, uses her background in architecture to plan and market luxury condo projects. “There are so many other careers that have stemmed from architecture,” like construction and development, she said.

Despite historically high numbers of women entering the field of architecture, top-tier positions are still dominated by men. Only 12% of architects that serve as supervisors, or licensed employers in architectural firms, are women, according to Guillermo Ortiz De Zarate, who led the latest NCARB report.

Architect Elizabeth Ranieri of Kuth Ranieri Architects

Andrew Lamberson for The Wall Street Journal

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“When you get out onto the field, on a job site, you’re still in a world of men,” said Elizabeth Ranieri, 51, principal at Kuth Ranieri Architects in San Francisco. She says an absence of women in other professional fields contributes to the disparity. Ms. Ranieri is currently designing homes for tennis players Venus and Serena Williams, in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., who had no qualms about their selection.

“I didn’t hire her because she’s a woman,” Serena Williams said. “I hired her because she did a stellar job.”