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Closing the Gender Gap in Boston’s Real Estate Industry

Closing the Gender Gap in Boston’s Real Estate Industry

Diversity is a critical topic in today’s local real estate industry, and a recent Banker & Tradesman series examines attempts made to improve opportunities for women and minorities. It notes two recent studies highlighting both the progress among women in the industry, while also the wage gap that persists. For example, a recent study by the Boston Women’s Workforce Council collected information from 69 companies throughout various industries and found a 23-cent-per-dollar wage gap, with women’s average salary trailing $78,954 to men’s $103,155. Additionally, the most recent survey by the National Commercial Real Estate Women’s Network (CREW) reported a wage gap of 23.3 percent. Our CEO Vanessa Calderón-Rosado offered valuable insight to the series. In the article, she notes how gender diversity is more prevalent in real estate’s nonprofit sector. At IBA, we are proud to say that more than three-fourths of our staff are female and approximately 84 percent are minorities. Vanessa credits part of her success in real estate to her extensive background in finance and community development, but she makes an important point: Emotional intelligence is a critical part of the real estate industry, and perhaps where females and minorities have an advantage. “You have to work with communities. Any project before you break ground, you have to get out there and sell the idea and relate to people from different backgrounds. Those are things that sometimes people take for granted,” notes Vanessa. Vanessa also emphasized the importance of involvement in local organizations. In addition to CREW Boston, MACDC, CHAPA, and MHP are great outlets to network in the industry. She also noted how important it is for young women in real estate to understand the finance mechanisms of real estate and how the process works. We are proud to be a prominent women-led organization making a valuable impact in the lives of minority residents. For more information on how you can support IBA please visit our page: /donate/...