While women are looking for representation and equal pay among many industries this month, real estate is one that seems to need a lot of attention. Here, in the Mile High CRE, are the steps to draw more attention to the industry and bring more talented females on board.
March celebrates Women’s History Month which gives us a great opportunity to recognize and reflect on the efforts that have been made over the years to help women open doors and claim a seat at the table. It’s also a time to see what we need to work on as business leaders to continue to provide opportunities for women in leadership roles and make sure our teams are more diverse. To gain perspective of why women claiming a seat at the table in real estate and related fields is more complicated than simply encouraging them to do so, requires visiting the facts.
The Urban Land Institute (ULI), a professional organization that provides leadership in the responsible use of land and in creating and sustaining thriving communities worldwide, has a membership where women make up 28 percent of their total membership and 21 percent full membership (a category with higher membership fee and engagement opportunities), but women only account for 14 percent of its CEOs.
According to ULI, while progress has been made in the past decades in advancing women within ULI and the real estate industry overall, there is still a long way to go before gender balance is achieved at the top of real estate organizations. With such a low number of female CEOs in the industry overall, even fewer run large firms. Of the female CEOs surveyed, only 7 percent lead organizations with more than 100 employees. What can be done to change this for the better?
The ULI created the Women’s Leadership Initiative (WLI) to help advance women in the real estate industry. They strive to increase the number and visibility of women who serve in leadership positions. The WLI research suggests that organizations and companies succeed in advancing more women when they change how work is done each day. Specific recommended actions include to think and act with an eye toward diversity when making assignments to lead high profile projects, providing coaching to those in new roles, accelerating learning through job assignments, investing in training to drive change, and creating an inclusive culture.
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