From Hollywood to Washington, allegations of sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior have become some of the biggest headlines since last year.
The recent rash of powerful men on the outs as a result of being accused of sexual harassment include movie studio chiefs, comedians and U.S. senators.
As a result of the almost daily headlines about a new scandal, some industries are in midst of massive shift of power from men to women.
So is that power shift going to take place in the mortgage industry?
Data from
the Mortgage Bankers Association’s mPower indicate that more than two-thirds of mortgage industry C-Suite jobs — positions such as chief executive officer, chief financial officer and chief operating officer — are held by white men. Another 9 percent are held by black men.
That leaves just 18 percent of white women and 3 percent of black women holding these senior positions.
The ratios for women improve lower down the job ladder, though men still hold a majority of entry level jobs — suggesting that the pool of women to promote from will ensure the industry remains male dominated for at least a while.
But the ratios might begin changing more quickly than in the past.
An article authored by Marcia Davies for MBA Insights revealed results from a voluntary survey of mPower members. The response rate was 13.5 percent of the 2,000 women who were solicited for the survey.
According to the survey, 75 percent of respondents had experienced at least one work-related sexual harassment incident as defined by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Among that group, 87 percent noted that an incident occurred in their twenties and 56 percent reported an incident in their thirties.
The most frequent location of an incident was at the office, while the most frequent behavior was inappropriate comments — though over half of the group reported inappropriate touching. Less than half said there were unwanted sexual advances.
But only 8 percent of those who experienced an incident reported it to human resources, although over a fifth told somebody in the chain of command.
The rate of reporting such incidents, however, is likely to increase.
“Respondents to our survey said that recent events were more likely to make them call out perpetrators and to report incidents to someone in command or in human resources,” the article stated.
With the likely reporting of previously unreported incidents, it is probable that some men in real estate finance will be knocked from long-held perches.
