The lack of gender equality in the business of Indian real estate, is a reality that no one would deny. The reality is that the second largest employment generating sector in India has under-representation of women employees. The business is also not attracting female talent that look at it as their first career choice. Is it all about the perception issues that keep the female employees away from this sector, or there are issues and malaise that run much deeper?
Barring a few exceptions, where the wives or daughters of the developer have occupied the spotlight, a typical real estate enterprise does not have a sizeable presence of women workforce, shows a pan-India survey by Track2Realty, a real estate think-tank. The survey looked into the reasons for under-representation of women in the real estate workforce from the standpoint of five critical aspects – perception issues, entry barrier, work culture, risk and reward and work-life balance – through a qualitative survey where women respondents were called for one-on-one interviews.
Negative perceptions deter women from real estate careers
A total of 44% of the women who took part in the survey cited perception issues as the primary reason to not look for real estate as a career. Only 30% would even consider real estate as a viable career option. Even among the women who were open to a real estate career, only 36% felt it was a long-term career choice.
See also: Tips for women entrepreneurs who want to venture into real estate
No less than 68% women believe there is always a glass ceiling for them in real estate companies. The entry barrier may or may not be explicit, but it is definitely embroiled in the work atmosphere, which it is not conducive for women to feel safe at work.
Real estate bias towards male employees
A high percentage of women (as many as 72%) questioned that if the winds of gender-specific change had swept through real estate, then, why were there no female business leaders in the sector?
As many as 74% respondents maintain that real estate companies hire them only for support functions and not leadership roles. They are mostly hired for front office, or sales and marketing jobs. For married women, employment possibilities are few and far between, as admitted by 62% respondents.
Post-Covid, the new-normal of work from home should have bridged some of the gender inequality in the sector. However, this has not been the case, with 68% respondents saying that there had been more layoffs and furloughs with women employees than male employees in their respective organisations.
Real estate industry culture
In terms of the female detachment from real estate employability, there is a cultural context, as well and not every major real estate market reported the same level of dissatisfaction. Noida and Kolkata reported the highest level of dissatisfaction among women, with 88% and 76%, respectively. Bengaluru (42% disapproval) and Mumbai (48% disapproval) reported lesser levels.
“As a woman, I do not want special treatment. All that I want is to be allowed to work with my dignity and get rewarded for working hard. This sector does not offer its female employees support and boundaries are often crossed, in terms of what could be called civilised behaviour,” says Prema Narayan, a real estate employee in Noida.
As a reflection of this, 82% of those respondents who had some exposure with real estate companies, maintained that the boardroom culture was way too weird for them.
See also: Single women more attracted to property than their married peers: Track2Realty survey
Risk vs rewards in real estate careers
Women also felt that real estate was not a viable option from the standpoint of risk vs reward? 78% women felt that the management, in most of the cases, was so family-operated that they preferred male employees who were available 24×7. Rewards were also not as per merit, maintained 70% of the respondents.
“Risk and reward ratio has to be equitable and not gender-specific. However, the problem is that women employees in real estate are only seen as a people who are earning additional pocket money. Till the time there is a paradigm shift in the mindset and we are seen as breadwinners of our families, the issue of gender inequality and under-representation will continue,” maintains Snigdha Sinha, a real estate employee in Gurugram.
Work-life balance in realty for women
In terms of work-life balance, 74% believed that the job’s demands were unreasonable and that it was not possible to have a work-life balance in this sector. As many as 84%, maintained that the nature of the business was so unorganised that asking for even a basic need, like maternity leave, could result in one getting fired.
“Don’t you think maternity leave is a basic right of every woman professional? When I asked for it, I was categorically told to resign, as the under-staffed company would immediately need a replacement for my role. This is not what I expected after giving seven years to the real estate company,” rues Swati Agrawal in Hyderabad.
Interior design, architecture seen as better alternatives to construction
A career break for higher education or skill development is what 78% of the women employees wished to avail. As many as 82% of the women added that the micro-managing work culture of real estate companies, was too stressful to handle.
Is there any silver lining? The survey, nevertheless, noted that rejection of real estate as a career, was mostly limited to working with construction companies. 80% of women said they would love to be part of real estate through a career in interiors, while 68% felt that architecture and design was a better viable career option for them.
The survey is a clear reminder that in spite of the verbal commitment of leading real estate companies and industry bodies, the fact remains that career-oriented women are not enthused with the work culture in the real estate sector.
(The writer is CEO, Track2Realty)
Ravi Sinha is a journalist with nearly two decades of cross-discipline media exposure. He is the CEO of real estate think-tank group Track2Realty. He has been writing extensively on the real estate sector for nearly a decade. Evaluation of real estate brand performance is his expertise and he has immense insight into consumers’ psychograph in the property market.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ravitrack2media
Related Posts
Is it time for Indian real estate to finally focus on women home buyers, as a crucial TG?.
Single women more attracted to property than their married peers: Track2Realty survey.
Survey reveals Indian home buyers dissatisfied with current project quality.
Home buyers’ wish-list for Budget 2017: Remove investors, encourage end-users.
Women’s day special: Rising to the top, against all odds.
REITs: Eagerly awaited by the industry but buyers prefer a ‘wait and watch’ approach.
