Building a better pipeline in commercial real estate

Building a better pipeline in commercial real estate


November 8, 2016

 

Like many male-dominated industries, commercial real estate has a pipeline problem.

The bleak number of women in the industry – just 35 percent of all positions– can partly be blamed on lack of exposure among women and girls.

Many young females don’t pursue a path in commercial real estate because they’re unaware of the opportunities in the industry. Organizations like the Commercial Real Estate Women’s Network are working to change this.

The “Real Estate 101” classroom program offered from CREW Network chapters across the country is designed to introduce 9th through 12th grade girls to different areas of commercial real estate.

CREW Network president Laurie Baker said the organization is starting at the earliest levels to improve gender and racial diversity in the industry.

“It takes time. It doesn’t happen overnight,” Baker said. “But you have to have these programs that open people’s eyes to opportunities.”

For the past five years, CREW Houston has been collaborating with Barbara Jordan High School near downtown Houston. BJHS is Houston Independent School District’s sole career magnet school, putting students on track to enter the workforce or post-secondary education following graduation.

Each year, CREW Houston members visit the high school and meet with 100 girls who have signed up to participate in a day-long program.

The students spend the day in groups of 10 planning and creating property developments, learning about the different aspects of commercial real estate and how they could be successful in field.

“When they first came in, they came with women with a plethora of career opportunities that this girls had never been exposed to,” said Madeline Hartwell, CREW Houston’s liaison at BJHS.

The exercises have always been based on real-life projects, and the actual developers or project managers often listen to the students’ final presentations to generate ideas.

“This is a little bit different from the typical career day,” Hartwell said. “I think CREW is like the icing on the cake. It adds a little more exposure and firsthand knowledge.”

Kelly Sklar of CREW Houston said the organization is separating from BJHS to give other schools in the area the opportunity to participate in the program. A task force is currently working to select the location for next year’s event.

Tracy Dodson, vice president of brokerage and development at Lincoln Harris in Charlotte, N.C., said she’s seen added efforts to expose students to commercial real estate to diversify the industry.

Dodson noted the new commercial real estate programs at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte that didn’t exist when she was a student. The Childress Klein Center for Real Estate at UNC Charlotte was established in 2005 and offers a masters degree in real estate, incorporating commercial real estate and finance courses.

She said the expanding education options will be game changing for diversification efforts and exposing young women to a field where they can find their passion.

“It can be a little intimidating,” Dodson said. “But women who want to be in it are passionate and like the business. Most women I’ve met can hold their own.”

 

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