SAN DIEGO—Being aware of inequities and making a top-down plan with measurable goals can set CRE companies on a course that will make them more diverse and inclusive as well as more successful, say panelists at a recent BMC event. The panel discussion at the end of the BMC Dialogue Series: “Unconscious Bias in the Workplace” last Wednesday here, presented by the Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate at the University of San Diego School of Business, tackled how to make our industry more diverse and inclusive.

Jennifer Litwak, Esq., executive director of Housing on Merit, said that the industry organization Commercial Real Estate Women surveyed members of the industry and found that 60% had observed gender bias in the workplace, while 90% said they hadn't done anything that would be construed as gender bias in the workplace. “The reason people experience gender bias more than they report is awareness—not understanding what it is,” said Litwak. For example, ignoring women in meetings or excluding them from “male” social excursions are forms of gender bias that someone doing them may not recognize as such.

Jerrilyn Malana, Esq., chief deputy for employment and special advisor for the San Diego County District Attorney's Office, said she used to be asked to take notes in meetings, presumably because she was a woman and that was a “woman's task,” until she said it was someone else's turn.

G. Joyce Rowland, SVP and chief human resources and administrative officer for Sempra Energy, said we can use big data to winnow out bias, using analytical rather than objective methods on employment decisions like hiring for a position. “Be clear about what you're going for” before evaluating candidates, she said.

Tim Durie, SVP of Newland Real Estate Group, said his firm tries to “understand what we believe and why we believe it” in order to avoid unconscious bias and promote diversity and inclusion. His firm looks at the best person to hire, and 50% of the time that person is female. “We need to attract more people of color from colleges into our business,” he said.

Durie added that diversity of thought is extremely important in business. “I need a conscience that's different from me to make sure my thinking is appropriate.”

Litwak spoke of the aspiration gap. According to a 2016 CREW study of CRE men and women, 40% of the men aspire to the C-level suite versus 28% of women; most of the women's aspirations stopped at the SVP level, but they want a high-paying job. “This aspiration gap is driven by gender bias,” said Litwak. Such bias is perpetuated by stereotypical perceptions of women who exhibit “alpha male” traits in the workplace as negative—and it leads to lower aspirations.

Malana said, “We need more role models for young people. What are we doing with young children when we talk about [law and real estate]? We need to address systemic issues when encouraging people to follow certain careers.”

Rowland spoke of the difficulty women in business have when they decide to have children and what that does to their careers. “We need to make sure the paths in and out of the workplace are more accessible” to women who have children.

Durie said there is a 60/40 dichotomy between the number of women hired and those at the corporate level several years after they're hired.

All of the panelists agreed that once companies realize that diversity and inclusion impacts their bottom line, they sit up and listen, making a clear business case for those values. Also, this message must come from the top down.

Durie added that diversity of thought is extremely important in business. “I need a conscience that's different from me to make sure my thinking is appropriate.”

Durie said there is a 60/40 dichotomy between the number of women hired and those at the corporate level several years after they're hired.

Instant Insights /

Traveling on the Road to Diversity and Inclusion

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