In preparing for our August issue of American Agent & Broker, for the past several weeks I've been immersed in the stories of almost 20 women who have achieved enviable success in the insurance industry. Their stories, backgrounds and life situations are all very different, but all of them share great skills and a dedication to an industry that wasn't always that conducive to having them around.
Several of the women I spoke with have been in the industry for 30 years or more. Two familiar names are Donna Pile and Sharon Emek. Both of their stories are characteristic of the times in which they came of age.
Donna started her career in 1977 after a divorce left her with three small sons to support. Her dad owned an agency, and she managed to balance a growing career with raising her kids. “My sons went to many a company meeting and clients' houses and stayed in the agency with me for preschool years,” she said.
Sharon is best known as the founder of WAHVE, the work-at-home option for retired insurance professionals. Her mid-1980s entrée into insurance came as agencies were first beginning to adopt automation. “Both CIGNA and Aetna gave their key agencies computer terminals. Agencies at that time had minimal management procedures, never mind an understanding of technology,” she said. “I was a consultant to closely held companies, helping them develop management and technology procedures. To help them, I recognized that I had to learn insurance, which I did. I became a licensed insurance broker and a CIC.”
Both remember what it was like to be the only woman in the room. “One of my carriers finally had a younger man making the calls on agency bonuses,” Donna said. “He asked why as a partner in the agency I was never at a meeting. I replied that I was never invited. He said nothing but when the letter came, it included my name and every letter after that included my name.”
Fast forward 40 years. Although women are still underrepresented in the C-suite, the playing field is far more level today. Because it deals with the buyer, the agent/broker segment has always been more amenable to gender equality, which is evident in the large number of young female agency owners (33 percent of independent agencies have at least one woman owner, according to Madelyn Flannagan, VP of education and research for IIABA). And with more women graduating with bachelor's and advanced degrees, the talent pool is bigger than ever.
Women today are different, too. Raised in a globally interconnected world where they've collaborated with the opposite sex since kindergarten, they rightfully expect a seat at the table.
So based on the numbers—women hold only 6 percent of top executive positions at insurers and reinsurers–yes, the glass ceiling still exists. But based on other numbers— in the U.S. in 2012, women represented 51 percent of PhDs, 51 percent of business school applicants, 67 percent of college graduates and more than 70 percent of college valedictorians (National Center for Education Statistics)—it's cracking fast.
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