CREW & Cornell Report on Women in Commercial Real Estate
This year the Cornell Program in Real Estate (PRE) partnered with the Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) Network to report on the status of women in the commercial real estate workplace from 2005-2010. The new study, Women in Commercial Real Estate: 2010, was released October 20, 2010 by the CREW Network. More than 2900 individuals who work within commercial real estate were surveyed. Respondents were reached with the help of 13 commercial real estate associations.
PRE students and staff contributed greatly to the survey. Khari Buck, PRE 2011; Doug Solinsky, PRE 2011; and Sarah Brown, PRE/MBA 2010, analyzed the data and created early drafts of the report. Sung Won Suh, PRE 2006 and teaching associate to the PRE, contributed statistical analysis and editing, and Chevone Hall, PRE 2012 contributed late-stage editing to help create the final product. Buck said, “Building a report from the primary data was exciting as we got to see first-hand how the landscape for women has changed in the last five years. It was motivating to hear the perspectives of women in many different parts of the industry. Women have come a long way in some sectors over the past five years. But despite the strong hold by women in some fields, there is still great room for improvement, especially in development. We hope this study provides a road map for women in the future who are looking for a career in commercial real estate. Thank you to CREW for funding this kind of study every five years, looking forward to 2015!”
According to the press release, the 2010 study reported a significant increase in the number of women in the industry, but salary and promotion levels remain disparate. Also from the press release:
A greater number of women are now pursuing careers in commercial real estate, as more women are entering the field of commercial real estate and finding opportunity: 36 percent in 2005 as compared to 43 percent today – a seven percent increase.
In addition to the increase in the number of women entering the industry, the ever present wage gap between men and women is narrowing. More women are now in the $100,000 per year to $250,000 per year salary category, but are still fewer than men. Whereas only 8% of women surveyed in 2005 were at the $250,000 level, by 2010 that figure had increased to 11%, while the percentage of men in the same compensation category had decreased from 34% to 31%. In 2010, two times as many women as men reported earning less than $75,000 per year as opposed to three times as many in 2005.
Men still report earning a greater portion of their overall compensation from various forms of variable compensation such as bonuses and stock options, but both men and women are beginning to report that a higher percentage of total compensation drawn from base salary (58% in 2005 to 67% in 2010). C-Suite positions continue to be a majority male: In the survey, nine percent of the female respondents reported holding a C-suite position (President, CEO, CFO, COO) while 22 percent of the male respondents reported holding these positions. Overall, C-Suite positions were significantly reduced in the 2010 study for both males and females, compared to the 2005 study, in response to the depressed economy in 2010. Women who reported being in C-suite positions declined from 13% in 2005 to 9% in 2010, whereas men declined from 32% to 22%, respectively.
Chevone Hall, PRE 2012, commented, “This study is a great step towards understanding the recent changes in gender disparities in the commercial real estate industry; I am both excited to see how these findings will be utilized and motivated to contribute towards the progress of all women.”
To find out more about this study or the CREW Network, please visit: http://www.crewnetwork.org/INDEX.html