GLENDALE, CA—Women are more involved in the service aspects of commercial real estate and asset and property management, but they're still not the deal decision-makers, Andrea S. Glickman, area vice chairman and managing director-practice leader of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., tells GlobeSt.com exclusively. A Real Estate Forum Woman of Influence for 2014, Glickman spoke with us candidly about her views on women in commercial real estate and the barrier they're still not able to cross.

GlobeSt.com: What do you feel is lacking for women in commercial real estate?

Glickman: When I started in the business 31 years ago, it was very Darwinian, and unfortunately that was back in the day when there was the one woman in the room, and the people sitting around her felt good about themselves because at least they had that one woman in the room. But the evolution of commercial real estate is interesting because, if you think about the people in the “support” industries—law, accounting, insurance—I would bet that easily 50% are women, and the most successful commercial real estate leasing people are also women. What is lacking are women in risk-taking and deal-making roles. So, asset management, property management and non-risk-taking positions are now becoming very dominated by women, but there's still a real dearth of women in risk-taking roles in CRE.

GlobeSt.com: What impact is this movement of women into some areas of the commercial real estate industry having on the industry as a whole?

Glickman: There is a feminization of the service industry, which I think is positive because women tend not to need that “I won, you lost” reinforcement, and so finding a point of neutral agreement in deals and operations is more likely. I also think that men are doing that, too—it's not just women. As more women are involved in the service aspects of CRE and asset and property management and have men reporting to them more regularly, there is a sense of communal problem solving. But again, on the deal side, I can count on one hand the number of women there—there are women CFOs and controllers, but not the deal decision-makers. They're not the ones who get the shot as they come up over the mountains. That's distressing.

Women tend to be more risk averse. Men can raise $100 million, lose $85 million of it, say, “Sorry,” and go back and try to raise another $100 million. Women feel they've let the world down if they've lost a nickel. Women internalize disappointment more deeply than men, especially if they feel they've let others down.