Women in Real Estate
Over the past two decades, women have achieved tremendous inroads in commercial real estate. For example, in 1984, only about 100 CCIMs were women. Among today’s CCIMs, more than 550, or about 13%, are women. And women are stepping into leadership positions in a number of industry organizations, including the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP), the Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM), and the Commercial Investment Real Estate Institute.
According to the Women’s Bureau on Hot Jobs in the 21st Century, 2006-2016, the labor force is estimated to increase by 12.8 million persons between 2006 and 2016; about 6.3 million (49 percent) will be women. In 2016, women are expected to comprise 46.5 percent of the estimated 164.2 million persons in the labor force. However, Real Estate, or any industry similar to it, is NOT one of the categories predicted to have continued growth among women. There are many reasons I’m sure. Real Estate demands a tremendous amount of time. And to be successful in real estate, you must be able to negotiate well. Men can take it to mat when negotiating and still go out have a beer or play golf with the same person they battled with. Women are gentler negotiators, and take things more personally. But I do not believe that means less successful. You don’t always have to play hardball to win. In a truly successful negotiation, there shouldn’t be a loser.
I don’t know if as Americans we’ll ever get past the fact that the average professional woman, with the same degree, experience and job title as a man, will earn 80 cents for every dollar a man earns. But I do think times are changing. I don’t think people are as surprised to find women in industries that require aggressive conduct and demanding schedules as they once used to. I am of the opinion that women allow themselves to get in their own way, most of the time by choice. Our culture is still comfortable with assuming women care for the household and children. And since women are the ones who have children they are usually the ones that have to make a choice between career and homemaking.
With our country’s current economic woes, we’ve already seen more women take over the work place. Perhaps it’s only a matter of time before Real Estate is one of the industries we’ll soon dominate.