Upheaval in the commercial real estate market in the last five years has indisputably created a host of challenges, but for women looking to advance their careers, today's uncertainty can provide a chance to seize opportunity.
Big shifts in the CRE marketplace, including burgeoning asset classes and creative financing structures, create space for women to fit their talents into the marketplace in new ways, panelists said at Bisnow’s Southern California Women Leading Real Estate awards.
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“If you are looking to do something different or you're in a season of change, commercial real estate, in my opinion, is in a once-in-a-lifetime situation where everything has been knocked upside down,” 4P Ventures founder and Commercial Real Estate Women Network LA President Amberly Washington said at the event, held at the Hilton Los Angeles Culver City on Dec. 9.
Speakers each had their own experiences navigating commercial real estate, but time and again they found their niche within it, whether they were looking for a more equitable workplace or whether they were seeking more opportunities to explore diverse leadership opportunities.
But their success stories seem to be the exception rather than the rule for many women in CRE.
Women in commercial real estate continue to face the same stubborn challenges of years prior, according to a CREW Network survey.
Women made up 38% of the commercial real estate workforce in 2025 — a 1-percentage-point increase since 2020, according to the 2025 CREW Network benchmark study.
The percentage of women in CRE has remained “nearly constant” over the past 20 years, the study’s authors wrote, attributing the stagnant growth to a lack of opportunities and advancement in the industry.
Although women haven’t gained in the workforce share, there have been some gains. Women’s pay has come closer to men’s, largely because compensation for all in the industry declined, and women still make $29K less than men overall in CRE.
In some industries, however, there have been gains: In asset management, women make up 43% of the workforce. Women make up just 31% of brokers, leaving room to grow in a field where they are historically a minority, according to the study.
Despite their tenure in the field, all of the panelists spoke of having to work to find their place in the industry, whether that meant leaving a toxic workplace or pivoting to a different facet of the business.
“There's not a linear path to success. There's not a linear definition of success,” Ascent Developer Solutions’ Hilary Gevondyan said.
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