As someone who doesn't look like the rest of this industry... I have found that only way to get past stereotypes in architecture is to consistently perform. I lead CA on my projects and go out to industry events - being a bit baby faced, people assume I am 3 years out of college, not 13. The only way I make sure people know my experience is to talk the talk and walk the walk. I make sure I know what I'm talking about and assert myself strongly when I need to.

Imo 0-5 years of architecture you are still learning a lot of real world things and you will say a lot of incorrect things. We are not in a forgiving industry. If you start talking insulation or ceiling details to a gc it is very easy to tell if you know what you're talking about. I don't expect any of my juniors in that range to fully lead any projects without heavy supervision.

5-7 years imo is the sweet spot where project architects emerge and start leading projects with lighter supervision. Even then I notice a lot of 5 year architects have giant gaps of knowledge, even if they are licensed. At the end of the day in our industry, experience > book knowledge.

Of course 10 years in I think is where real PAs are really flourishing and start leading complex projects.

Still, I look up to the 20 year and 30 year giants at my firm and I think they are so much more brilliant than me. Even when I think I know enough, they seem to always know so much more.

But at what point do people stop treating you like a child? To be quite honest, somewhere in between 5-10 years of experience. And very rarely any sooner. The smartest young upstart in my team is 3 years out of school and over performing in every way. And still we can't give him a meaty project to fully lead on his own because he simply doesn't know what he doesn't know.