By Heidi Bohi

A woman in a man’s world – as archaic as this expression may sound as we round the corner of 2010, in commercial real estate in Alaska, it is a widely held belief that this is the reality in the field that is still predominately male.

Although the same holds true for the Lower 48 states, in Alaska this imbalance is especially noticeable where it is estimated that less than 25 percent of those who practice in the state’s industry are women.  The high-paying field of commercial real estate offers a culture and compensation structure that is often problematic for women.

“Go to any Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM) meeting.  There will be more than 100 people in the room and only a dozen will be women,” says Beth Knight, vice president for Alyeska Title and a member of the industry for 28 years.

Alaska Chapter

To address narrowing that gap, about two years ago Knight began asking around to see if there was enough interest in the community to support an Alaska chapter of the national organization Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW).  The 20-year-old nonprofit advances the success of women in disciplines affiliated with commercial real estate development, including lenders, attorneys, architects and engineers.  In October, the chapter celebrated its one-year anniversary and has 25 core members.

“It gives women a place where they feel like they can emerge,” Knight says, adding that the organization also has resulted in networking women and men in the industry.  “It allows some of the gentlemen to learn of rising stars they might not otherwise have the opportunity to meet.”

A major focus of CREW is to provide more role models and mentors for young women breaking into the industry, which is key to a woman’s success in this industry, experts say.  CREW Foundation, the philanthropic arm of CREW Network, offers a program called “CREW Careers: Building Opportunities,” which is presented to local girls’ groups nationwide.  In addition to networking, education and professional development, locally the Anchorage chapter offers the CREW Foundation for scholarships and also focuses on developing role models from its membership who can mentor each other, teach and share best practices with the next generation of women, Knight says.

National Research

Despite the fact that women account for only about 36 percent of all commercial real estate professionals, research by the national organization shows there are more women in commercial real estate today than ever before.  A commissioned study found that despite the disparity, the number is up from 32 percent from five years ago when it did its first study.

Women have made greater inroads in some parts of the industry than others.  Industry-wide, 51 percent of asset property management professionals are women, while 44 percent in financial-law services are women.  Only 23 percent of the CREW survey respondents said they were employed in the brokerage function, and 36 percent of development professionals are women.

Compensation, Advancement

At the same time, the CREW study, along with anecdotes from leading female executives in real estate, reveals a contradictory picture.  Women’s participation in the industry is at an all-time high, though the survey found that when comparing men and women with more than 20 years of experience, 44 percent of men held the title of president, chief executive or chief financial officer, compared to 23 percent of the women.

Though more women are entering commercial real estate, men earn more than women across the board at comparable levels of age and experience, as well as across specializations.  Nearly six in 10 (58 percent) of the men reposted yearly incomes of $150,000 or higher, but only 24 percent of women achieved those revenues.

“There is clearly more work to do to achieve parity between men and women in terms of compensation and career advancement and to increase the number of women in certain segments of the industry,” the national network says of the study.