"BIRMINGHAM, AL – NOVEMBER 3, 2016: Louise McPhillips, 62, sits at home where she manages her own residential architecture firm. As a seventh grade student, McPhillips remembers taking a career aptitude test that pointed her toward careers requiring proficiency in mathematics, such as architecture. When her counselor told her women couldn't be architects because they aren't good at math, she listened. ""I thought he was imparting great wisdom on me, trying to save me this heartache from not being able to do it,"" McPhillips said. As a result, she went to college and majored in historic preservation instead. ""I was a senior in college before I even thought about going back to graduate school for architecture. And it turns out I can do math, thank you very much."" McPhillips received her masters degree in architecture from the University of Virginia in 1980, studied further in Vincenza, Italy, and later worked as an apprentice for KPS group in Birmingham, Alabama before starting her own practice in 1984. CREDIT: Bob Miller for The New York Times"
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