The missing middle layer: a global perspective on women in real estate

Alice Stephens knows that real estate – the sector she is eager to enter after finishing her final year of university – is not known for its diversity. Nevertheless, it hasn’t put her off, although she admits she has some concerns. On one hand, she believes the gender imbalance in real estate could work in her favour. Currently, around 14% of the sector’s workforce is female, according to the RICS, but Stephens hopes that being a minority will help her to stand out against her predominantly male peers. But she also believes she may face certain disadvantages because of her gender – specifically juggling work with having children. Having a family worries her. “I think it puts me off for now, until I’m in a position where I’m qualified and can progress,” she says. “I would probably want to delay having a family, making sure I’ve made my progression before I go… just in case I never reach it.” Family ties It’s a dilemma that many women face. In fact, raising a family is the main reason women in the UK are currently out of work. According to Office for National Statistics labour market figures, 1.81m women are not working due to family responsibilities. Although there is no specific data for the number of women in real estate who have indefinitely dropped out of the profession to raise a family, the low number of women in middle management and senior positions indicates that retaining female talent in the later stages of their career is an issue. New research conducted by PwC in partnership with Real Estate Balance shows that 22% of industry directors are female. It marks a marginal increase of three percentage points since 2017, but the same cannot be said for progress in getting women into middle management and leadership positions. Around 30% of senior leaders are women, compared with 32% in 2017, and the number of women in middle management positions has also dropped, from 43% to 42% over the same period. It seems no wonder, then, that employees have reported slow progress being made on gender gaps within their firms. While the same research revealed that real estate companies believe they have made headway on improving gender diversity in their firm, their employees have reported a more damning reality. In particular, the greatest concern workers had was in relation to their company’s culture and attitude towards diversity. In fact, changing business culture concerning gender diversity was what employees most wanted to see introduced into their company. Around half (51%) of employees thought this would make the most difference in addressing the gender imbalance within their company, closely followed by board-level commitment (47%). If organisations fail to put in place, or communicate, the right culture then the repercussions of this could ultimately be to their detriment. Be authentic PwC and Real Estate Balance’s research showed that, on average, companies scored their bosses higher in terms of their commitment to diversity than their employees did. The most significant disparity in opinion concerned chief executives’ personal engagement with diversity, which was also the area in which companies ranked their chief executives most highly. Nearly three-quarters of companies believed their chief executives interacted with a diverse range of the workforce to broaden their perspective, compared with 39% of employees who agreed. Amanda Clack, CBRE’s head of strategic advisory and co-author of the book Managing Diversity and Inclusion in the Real Estate Sector, says it is critical that creating a culture change should come from the top. Because research shows that employees are sceptical about their leaders’ commitment to gender diversity, Clack suggests that either directors are indeed uncommitted to improving diversity or work needs to be done to improve communication of company values to employees. “It’s really important that you are an authentic leader,” she says. “Don’t talk about things or say things that you don’t believe in, because guess what – people can see through it really quickly. “A culture change needs to be authentic: it needs to be felt at all levels of the business. That’s really important. You also have to tell people what you’re doing.” Are there leaders in the sector who don’t believe in diversity? “I’m sure there are,” she says. “If it’s the CEO, then that’s a problem.” Psychological impact Fail to effectively change your business’s approach to improving gender disparities and you could see a negative effect on productivity, warns Manchester Business School professor of work psychology Marilyn Davidson. Employees can often become disillusioned if they feel they are being held back on account of their gender, she says, and are therefore more likely to experience job dissatisfaction. “If women don’t have role models, or see that women only get to a certain level or get paid a certain amount, what tends to happen is that this can affect employee behaviours,” explains Davidson. “Women are less likely to ask for promotions as they consciously or unconsciously see that women are only promoted to a certain level.” Ultimately, this could harm the business itself, says Davidson, who explains that organisations may see a dip in productivity or team morale, or experience a higher staff turnover as a result. “Overall, it’s not good news for a company,” she says. On the other side of the pond, in the US, an exclusively male-dominated culture presents even more of an issue for women in the sector, says Natasha Collins, founder of NC Real Estate, a members’ club for landlords and property investors. Compared with the UK, where gender diversity is more likely to be celebrated, breaking into the US’s predominantly male property industry as a woman can prove more difficult, she says. “The only way to be taken forward for certain jobs or opportunities is to get someone to advocate you strongly,” Collins says, adding that she feels men are more likely to assume she works in a role traditionally thought of as one more likely to be occupied by a woman. “There’s a general stereotype that if you’re a woman in property, you’re a broker or an agent,” she says. Collins comments that she has to work harder to gain the trust of men in the sector and prove her ability. “Men typically trust men,” she says. “From that point of view, there are going to be barriers.” Meanwhile, in Australia, research indicates that men are significantly less aware of the barriers a male-dominated culture can present. According to EY’s Grow the Talent Pool report, published in 2018, 61% of women said they believe the industry’s “boys’ club mentality” discourages people from working in the sector. However, only around a third of men thought this culture would deter prospective talent from entering the industry. Women were also found to have a shorter tenure in the sector compared with their male counterparts. Some 58% of real estate professionals who have been working in the industry for more than 10 years are male. Enticing talent For an industry that cites the need for new talent as a priority, addressing its approach to gender diversity will no doubt help present itself as a desirable industry for millennials to enter. Diversity is a key factor for retaining millennial employees, according to Deloitte’s Millennial Survey 2018. The report outlined the opinions of 10,455 millennials working in various sectors across the globe concerning diversity in business. Of the respondents who said they thought they worked in a diverse business, over two-thirds said they planned to stay beyond five years at this place of work. In contrast, millennials who thought they worked at an organisation that was not diverse were far less likely to remain with the company for more than five years – only 27% said they would. [caption id="attachment_973942" align="alignright" width="200"] Alice Stephens[/caption] Diversity is, therefore, likely to matter more for those about to embark upon a career in the sector, like Alice Stephens. She is currently enrolled on a graduate scheme with BNP Paribas Real Estate. Unusually, once she has finished her degree, she will join a predominantly female team – five out of her seven colleagues will be women. “Having females around, for me, is a positive thing,” she says. “I’m not intimidated by men, but I think having women in a team is better. “I see being female as an opportunity. At this point, I’m optimistic – it’s a good chance to stand out. I’m not put off going into the industry.” ‘Offering support was a tick-box exercise’ Pepper Barney, an architect and director of her own firm, BiBO Studio, left her previous firm, BDP, because of the lack of support she felt she received upon returning to work after having a baby. Not long after she joined architectural practice BDP, Barney fell pregnant and left on maternity leave. On her return to the firm, she was asked what support she needed to juggle work alongside raising her child. Barney says she wanted to work a compressed week (working Monday, Wednesday and Thursday) and work remotely for an extra three hours in between. However, she claims the firm said it could not accommodate this flexible working schedule. Soon after, Barney handed in her resignation, and says she felt that BDP had not attempted to listen or accommodate her proposed requirements. Depressingly, Barney says she was expecting the firm to reject her proposals. “It was a matter of policy that they asked the question,” she said. “But they didn’t listen to my answer, and consequently didn’t engage with me at all about how we could find some common ground and a solution. That is ultimately why I had to go – because I realised that it was a tick-box exercise for them.” A spokesman for BDP said: “Anyone in BDP can apply for flexible working, and our policy currently benefits over 20% of our staff who are in flexible or part-time employment. “It is one of our main goals to enable employees to find an appropriate work/life balance, while ensuring that the company is adequately resourced at all times to remain successful. “All requests are considered fully and fairly in accordance with this policy on a case-by-case basis. There may, however, be circumstances when BDP is unable to accommodate an employee’s desired work pattern, in which event we will always seek to identify a compromise arrangement. “If a workable compromise arrangement cannot be found, the request may have to be declined.” To send feedback, e-mail lucy.alderson@egi.co.uk or tweet @LucyAJourno or @estatesgazette Image: Shutterstock