Meet Sylvia Shapshak: the 14th woman architect in South Africa

Born in the late 1920s, Sylvia Shapshak didn’t care that designing houses wasn’t women’s work. She wanted to do it anyway. What is incredible about her story is that she did not set out to be a trailblazer or to fight for women’s rights. She just wanted to follow her passions and live the life she wanted – which is often the exact definition of a trailblazer who refuses to allow society to tell them what they can (and cannot) be.

In the latest episode of We Are South African, Profmed’s inspirational docuseries speaking to ordinary South Africans and Profmed members who are doing extraordinary things, the Good Things Guy, Brent Lindeque, visits Sylvia’s home to learn more about her life.

Choosing her own path

Faced with becoming a shorthand typist or a homemaker, Sylvia chose door number three – a university degree. At first, no one in her family or university classes thought she should be there. In fact, Sylvia shares that she overheard her mother say, “We will let her study for a year, and I’m quite sure she will fail, and then she will do something sensible like shorthand typing.”

But Sylvia did not fail, and she did not give up. Instead, she graduated and went to work at an architectural firm, where she received 25% less than her male counterparts. That was the beginning of a career defined by gender discrimination, from how much she earned to clients listening to the advice of male colleagues or builders over her advice.

In fact, even though she ran a successful practice herself, Sylvia could not secure medical aid for herself and her five children because she was not considered a ‘breadwinner’ as a woman. It was Profmed who, in 1971, accepted Sylvia’s application to the scheme as both a professional and a breadwinner.   

To watch Sylvia’s full story and her advice for women today, watch the latest episode of We Are South African. Click here to watch the full episode.

ALSO READ: Profmed: ‘We are South African’ storytelling series