Leader - New boss leads the way for women

The woman heading up the Real Estate Institute of Victoria says more mentoring opportunities and flexible work practices will help get women into positions of power in the property industry.

Reflecting on gender progress in real estate ahead of International Women's Day on 8 March, REIV president Robyn Waters said women had always been a driving force in the sector, despite being traditionally outnumbered at management level.

"There were very few female principals when I started out, but a lot of very talented women working in office management and trust account management," she said. "This was in the early 1980s and technology was changing things — and it was the young women in the offices who were applying themselves to the new technology."

Last October, Ms Waters became only the third woman elected to preside over Victoria's peak real estate body in its 83-year history. Born and raised in a real estate family, she described her career in the industry as "inevitable".

"I got half way through my accounting degree before I realised `why fight it?' and I sat for my real estate licence," she said. She joined her father's agency in Melbourne's north, working her way up from office duties to running her own successful business providing niche real estate services to a select portfolio of clients.

Despite the rise of women in real estate over the years, a Workplace Gender Equality Agency report shows a significant gender pay gap still exists in the rental, hiring and real estate services sector.

The sector's 26.3 per cent gap is well above Australia's overall pay gap of 21.3 per cent. And while it improved almost 5 per cent in 2017-18, it remains the third largest pay gap of any industry in Australia. 

[...]

See the original article on Leader below.