A brief scan of real estate’s demographic makeup points to a drastic imbalance. While 62 percent of all Realtors are female, only 20 percent hold the industry’s highest level positions.
And while history and anecdotal evidence begin to paint a picture of why that might be the case, the full story is far less clear, leaving the best path for change muddled somewhere in the numbers.
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At an Inman Connect session this year, an eye-opening discussion unfolded about why women were recruited to real estate in the first place — namely, for their knowledge of home economics, i.e., babies and blueberry pies.
Today, a career in real estate inspires many women to break glass ceilings by setting their own schedules, making their own commission and being their own boss.
But, quoting a 2015 Urban Land Institute report, “The aspirations of women in real estate stand in contrast with the current reality in which few make it to the top tier of major companies.”
When companies fail to usher women through the management bottleneck, they often get siphoned at the “pink collar ghetto,” or lower ranks.
What stands in the way of forward motion — lack of opportunity, scant awareness, naysayers, bias, all of the above? Inman’s latest Special Report survey sets out to dig deep into this issue and, in turn, provide the industry with some answers.
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