Women in community associations are having a conversation about gender equity in the workplace. They agree that systemic change requires raising awareness of women’s experiences and welcoming the conversation.
“We have a responsibility to other women to stand up for ourselves. We’re kicking the door open for somebody else,” says Noelle Hicks, a shareholder at Roberts Markel Weinberg Butler Hailey in Houston and chair of the Community Association Managers International Certification Board of Commissioners.
Like Hicks, Jessica Knutsen, CIRMS, believes women in the workforce must proactively pursue opportunities. A partner and senior vice president of the community associations insurance division at USI Insurance Services in Falls Church, Va., Knutsen serves on the CAI Board of Trustees and is chair-elect of the Business Partners Council. “Opportunities do not come to you, you need to be proactive to make those opportunities happen” she says.
Even as women find success and promotion opportunities, they continue to face a stubborn gender wage gap. They make only two cents more than they did in 2002, according to data collected in 2023 by the Pew Research Center. The gender pay gap also is seen in community associations. According to the Foundation for Community Association Research’s 2023 Community Association Manager Compensation and Salary Survey, women make only 76% compared to men’s median annual salary.
“We’ve got to do a better job at looking outside of the industry, making comparisons to people in similar roles, and using that information to ensure clients and executives know where salary ranges need to be,” says Delores Ferguson, CMCA, AMS, PCAM. Currently the chief customer officer with CCMC in Scottsdale, Ariz., she believes success is all about continuous growth. “Do everything you can to help yourself grow, whether that’s through education or finding a mentor,” she says.
A member of the CAI Board of Trustees and chair-elect of the Community Association Managers Council, Ferguson began her career as a manager in a North Scottsdale community and became vice president shortly thereafter. She was promoted to division president and then chief customer officer. “I think sometimes we can be our own worst enemy by not knowing what we are capable of,” Ferguson says. “If you have the will, the capabilities, and a company that aligns with your goals, you can succeed.”
Another factor holding women back is that they continue to experience more competence-based microaggressions (statements, actions, or incidents that convey subtle or indirect discrimination) than men, according to the 2024 “Women in the Workplace Report,” conducted by Lean In and McKinsey & Company. The report found that black women are most likely to have others express surprise at their language skills, Latinas are most likely to feel judged by their way of speaking, Asian and black women are more likely to be confused with someone of the same ethnicity, and LGBTQ+ women are most likely to feel they can’t talk about themselves outside work.
Hicks, who was named the CAI Rising Star in 2022 and earned the 2021 Best Manuscript Award at CAI’s Community Association Law Seminar for her panel presentation on overcoming racism in community associations, is no stranger to microaggressions at work. “I’m a black woman, and … I’m always getting questioned or undermined by someone who thinks they know better than me,” she says. “I must be very strategic about how I choose to express myself.”
According to the McKinsey report, 38% of women have had their judgment or expertise questioned at work. Knutsen is familiar with this. “When I started attending board meetings, if I was the only one walking in the room, I used to get the question, ‘Young lady, is anybody else coming with you to present,’ ” she recalls. “They wouldn’t ask that if a male insurance broker was walking in the room.”
Changing behavior is hard, and significant change requires everyone’s awareness and proactivity, regardless of gender. Experts say some of the best ways to engage men in women’s issues are to be explicit that women’s advancement also benefits men, to ensure senior-level men are on board as they hold unique influence, and to provide camaraderie.
>>Access the “Women in the Workplace Report” at leanin.org/women-in-the-workplace.
