By Lorna Landells
I’m not really big on women being the ‘best at everything’ or ‘you go girl’, but I do believe in parity at work. I enjoy the differences between men and women, how we think and act make for a far more interesting world than if we were all the same. However, despite my advanced years, I remain gob-smacked that the world of property has not really changed in its stance on women; to a large extent, we remain invisible or, occasionally, merely eye-candy.
I travelled to MIPIM in a group that included one other female. This was her first time at the event, and on the last day, she made the unbidden comment, “I am looking forward to seeing jeans again, oh and women!”
The numbers at MIPIM were definitely down this year, but the proportion of women seemed to be too.
Three years ago, I wrote a blog about hybrid working and its specific impact on women, quoting the Economist’s “Glass Ceiling Index” from that year. We, as in Britain, sat at 17th place out of 29 then, and, lo and behold, we are still at number 17, way below the OECD* average. What is going on?
We have upped the number of women in government, now over 40%, but are still lagging at 32% in the House of Lords (clues in the name?). However, when we come back to the world of property, it drops yet further: 20-30% of senior leadership roles are held by women (1). Furthermore, as a personal observation only, I believe some of those are actually being double-counted since female NEDs are definitely in demand, and certain names just keep on cropping up.
So, come on, guys, we’re over here, we’re over here! Diversity in the workforce can only be a good thing, surely. We’ve already lost the ESG audience to AI frenzy, let’s at least try to keep one eye on the inclusion ball.
(1) Real Estate Balance 2026