Women are ruling college-graduating classes in Orange County.According to research from JLL, women accountedfor more than half of the graduating classes at Orange County's topuniversities last year. At California State University, Fullerton,women made up 56% of the graduates; at Chapman University, womenaccounted for 60% of graduates; and at the University ofCalifornia, Irvine, women accounted for 53% of graduates. The samestudy also found that real estate ranked among the top female-ownedbusinesses in Orange County, on a list that included consultingservices, information technology, the wholesale sector, engineeringservice and business services. We sat down with PaulinaTorres, a research analyst at JLL, to talk about theresearch and how JLL is promoting gender diversity.

GlobeSt.com: What does it say about the real estateindustry that it made the list of the most active markets forfemale graduates?

Paulina Torres: Considering that thereal estate industry is the largest sector of the U.S. economy, asit accounts for 13 percent share of total US GDP, it is quitenecessary for it to be one of the most active industries for femalegraduates. What is interesting is that, according to the mostrecent statistics released by the National Association of Realtors,63 percent of all realtors are female and the most typical realtoris a 53-year-old female who attended college. It is great to seethat the U.S. economy's leading segment is a place where womenthrive.