Peter Fletcher

  • About
  • Blog
  • Contact

What’s the price of gender imbalance in the workplace?

February 11, 2014 by Peter Fletcher

Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Chief, Strategic Planning and Membership, ITU

What is the cost of gender imbalance in the workplace? Image: itupictures http://www.flickr.com/photos/itupictures/


I’m researching a blog post that’s sparked by a conversation I had on Facebook yesterday.

The conversation went like this.

Me: “What’s your take on the way our industry (real estate) treats women?”

Friend: “Just looking at it from [my company’s point of view], all the people in our top ten are all men and it always makes me wonder why. Adding to that the only women doing well are the ones with older kids or no kids.

There’s absolutely no support [for women] like me that have [young] kids… To make it I need to help to be able to go to…[appointments] where as if I was a man, I would simply leave my wife at home which is considered normal.”

That got me thinking so I phoned another friend, this time a mum with 2 boys and a supportive husband. The story was the same. In this case I could hear the frayed nerves as she told me about juggling a high performance career and running a household of four.

It struck me that something was about to break.

Yet despite the extra obstacles these women face – and overcome – they’re largely unheralded in the real estate industry (and I’d venture to say many others, too).

I suspect that industry conveniently turns a blind eye, or worse still addresses the issue with something bordering on passive aggression.

So I’m on a mission to find out what’s going on here. What are the facts? What’s at stake. I want to know the cost of idolising high monetary performers and overlooking the contribution made by those who choose to make raising a family their priority.

How you can help.

I’m looking for any thought provoking articles or research (such as this) that could help illuminate this issue. If you know of any, please leave a link in the comments below.

Take a moment to share:

  • Tweet
  • Email

Related posts:

  1. Gender imbalance in sales awards: the numbers If you think that women can have it all, stats...
  2. The case for advertising the price on for sale signs On a Facebook group for real estate agents someone asked...
  3. At what price our secrecy? Real estate agents have been trained to hold things back,...
  4. 3 excellent articles that will help you become a better leader If you want to become a better leader here are...
  5. Navigating Blogs In The Workplace | Delaware SHRM Article from Delaware SHRM outlining the problems and pitfalls from...

Filed Under: Leadership Tagged With: equality, gender imbalance, women's rights

Comments

  1. Paula Lagrenade says

    February 12, 2014 at 9:20 am

    Real Estate is one of the careers and industries that no matter whether you are male or female you can succeed. There are many successful women in real estate and not just older women with older kids. During my career I have given birth and raised two children and know many other successful women in real estate that have done the same. If you use being a women as an excuse for not succeeding it is your mind set you need to change not your gender.

  2. Natalie says

    February 12, 2014 at 5:31 pm

    Hi Peter. I think I’ve posted a link to this article to you before but it was a while back so not sure if you’ve already consulted it – it’s a beauty and caused a lot of discussion across the globe when it was first published. http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/07/why-women-still-cant-have-it-all/309020/

  3. Peter Fletcher says

    February 13, 2014 at 8:42 pm

    Thanks Nat. The quest to find answers has begun.

  4. Peter Fletcher says

    February 13, 2014 at 8:45 pm

    Hi Paula, there’s no doubt that there are many successful women in real estate. My question is why there’s such an imbalance in the numbers. And if that’s the case, what are the costs of this imbalance?

About Peter

Speaker, trainer and coach. I write about living, loving and working better. Love a challenge. More...

Subscribe

Get the latest posts delivered to your inbox.

Recent Posts

  • Perth property market report
  • Mandating madness: The case against compulsory e-conveyancing
  • PEXA: Stop treating conveyancers like idiots
  • Page 1 of 365
  • Looking back, looking forward

Top Posts & Pages

  • Foucault on power relations
  • Foucault on Confession
  • Surveillance and the capitalist state | Giddens
  • Why saying "You've got potential" can be the worst thing to say
  • So just why did you add me as a Friend?
  • The ethics of shark culling
  • Databases as discourse | Mark Poster
  • How will you respond when life hits you with the kyosaku?
  • Home Page
  • Zen and the art of the cold shower

Location

You can find me at Residential Settlements in Burswood.

5/170 Burswood Road
Burswood WA 6100

Let’s catch up

If you're ready to take your business to the next level, get in touch with me now.

Send me an email using the contact form or call me direct on 0419 538 838.

Connect

Connect with me on one of these social networks.
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • LinkedIn
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter

Copyright © 2021 · Agency Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.