March 15, 2010
Glass Ceiling or Sticky Floor
In the last 5 years, since CREW’s 2005 benchmark study, “Women in Commercial Real Estate”, women’s advancement to top positions (CEO, CFO, COO, board member) in commercial real estate had stagnated, or even regressed slightly. CREW’s new white paper, “Glass Ceiling or Sticky Floor – The State of Women’s Advancement in Commercial Real Estate”, examines the reasons why and offers suggestions to reverse the progress. (http://www.crewnetwork.org/RESOURCES/WhitePaper_GlassCeiling_Dec09.pdf )
Some of the interesting observations found in the paper:
- Women leaders are perceived as competent or likeable, but rarely both.
- While recent female graduates entering the industry receive 89% of the compensation their male counterparts receive, as women approach age 35 and over receive only 75% of the compensation of their male counterparts..
- Both women and men were shown to perceive “taking care” behaviors as the defining qualities of women leaders, and “taking charge” behaviors as the defining qualities of men leaders.
- In Fortune 500 companies, those with the highest representation of women board directors and women corporate officers, on average, achieve higher financial performance than those with the lowest.
- Generally, women are perceived as working fewer hours than men. Studies also show that women are generally more productive than men while working.
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Comments on Glass Ceiling or Sticky Floor
9:51 am
I’ve also discussed this article with Lexi Moriarty NEWIRE CREW, who presented information about the study at the CREW Network Winter Council meeting (Tampa, Feb. 2010). Some additional interesting information:
- During preparation of the white paper, the committee discovered that very little information about women in CRE exists in the industry beyond what CREW Network has conducted;
- Research found that while women have made great advances from 1996-2005 in general business, the group discovered that senior-level and executive promotions for women have stagnated over the past several years. This has occurred despite solid research supporting diversity in business has been beneficial to the bottom line
- Lexi suggested that during this recession, where many companies have lost focus on diversity and are operating in survival mode, women have and should take the opportunity to “step up to the plate” and suggest improvements to facilitate advancement.
- Not surprisingly, the following factors seem to continue to influence the female-male pay gap: Industry choice – women tend to gravitate towards lower paying disciplines and industries; face-time vs quality-time – studies show that men work more hours (8.3 vs 7.7), but studies do not measure corresponding productivity; Level of family responsibility – studies show negative correlation betweeen increased family responsibilities and women’s advancement/compensation, one study showed that unmarried women without children earned 13% more than those with children, but unmarried men with children earned 11% more than those without children
- Another interesting factor brought up by Lexi was that research shows that companies want women to conform to performing like men rather than using their own methods of getting results. The “fix women” mentality is an actual term that has been designated for this line of thinking.
4:28 pm
It is time for professional women to cease putting the blame on everyone else as the only alternative to “fixing women.” There is more than enough work for all of us, women and men, beginning with the gathering of more reliable data, the better and more concrete interpretation of that data, and the collaborative construction of alternative business ideas that benefit us as a whole. Enough with the “powder-puff opinion pieces” that advocate Let Us All Come Together. Enough with the negative self-talk and the ancient media hype of yore. We’ve got real work to do. One business at a time.
See my extended comments at:
http://blog.championboards.com/2010/03/crew-network-white-paper.html
2:59 am
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1:54 am
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2:40 am
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