Female Leadership in CRE: Where We Were and Where We’re Going
Women have made great strides. But the CRE industry still has a ways to go.
Jessica Fiur, Editor-in-Chief
“Girl power!”
“Lean in.”
“When there are nine.”
We’ve heard it. We’ve been inspired. We’ve shouted it from the rooftops.
And it’s 2023. But unfortunately, the glass ceiling is still very much a real thing for women. As we enter Women’s History Month, we’re reminded how far we have come as an industry, but also how far we still have to go.
According to Fortune.com, only 8 percent of CEOs are female. And a 2020 study by the Pew Research Center showed that the U.S. gender pay gap has remained the same for 15 years, with women earning 84 percent of what men earned.
When you look at the commercial real estate industry, the numbers are even bleaker. The 2020 CREW Network benchmark study, “Gender and Diversity in Commercial Real Estate,” found that women only make up 37 percent of the industry and occupy only 9 percent of the C-suite, and that women earn 10 percent less than men in salaried positions.
It’s … not great.
The industry is changing, though, and has made great strides toward equality with focuses on mentorship, leadership training and diverse hiring practices. And there are some great female executives who are doing important things for the real estate industry. Take, for instance, the very impressive women featured in Gail Kalinoski’s article, “10 Female Leaders in Commercial Real Estate.” Among them, CEOs, chief diversity, equity and inclusion officers, presidents and more.
“There is still a need for stronger representation of women in senior management and decision-making positions,” Terri Adler, managing partner at Adler & Stachenfeld LLP, told Kalinoski. “But trailblazing women in CRE are proving to young female professionals, and those still in school, that there are seats for them at the table.”
I hope these women inspire you all, and I hope the commercial real estate industry—and the country in general—keeps making strides to finally shatter that glass ceiling. And I don’t know about you, but I am definitely ready to get in formation!
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