Women dominate insurance, but inequality is rampant at leadership levels

The insurance industry is dominated by women. According to the Current Population Survey of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, women have consistently comprised about 60% of the insurance workforce in every year since 2007.

But at the leadership level, inequality is rampant: women occupy only 19% of board seats, 11% of named inside officer positions and 12% of top officer positions such as CEO, COO and CFO, according to Women in Insurance: Leading to Action, a whitepaper released from the Million Women Mentors (MVM) Women in Insurance Initiative (WII).

At a time when numerous industries are undergoing a metamorphosis — in large part due to #MeToo and activism on social media — the insurance industry is positioned to lead the pack. While often characterized as conservative or slow to change, the industry can pivot away from such descriptions by being on the forefront of equality.

Related: The insurance industry must embrace women & technology like never before

The insurance workforce

In 2016, there were 1.7 million women employed in the insurance sector, accounting for nearly 61% of the 2.8 million workers in the insurance industry. This stands in contrast to the national average across all industries, where only 46.8% of positions are held by women.

Despite compelling evidence of the business benefits of gender diversity, the World Economic Forum (WEF) has found that across all industries globally, women are only 28% as likely to reach leadership positions as men. All things held equal, with current trends, the WEF estimates that the overall global gender gap can be closed in exactly 100 years across the 106 countries covered since the inception of The Global Gender Gap report.

One might expect the insurance industry to have more women in leadership positions than the global average but that is unfortunately not the case. A study conducted by The Academy of Risk Management & Insurance at Saint Joseph’s University found that in most industries, the percentage of men in “line” (or business) roles versus “staff” (or functional) roles remains constant, while women shift to the staff side. Because CEO’s and other top management are generally promoted from line positions, very few women find themselves in contention.

Related: Women still trail men in financial knowledge

Barriers to advancement

With large numbers of aging workers set to retire — particularly in the insurance industry — the next wave of talent will likely mold the image of America’s workforce for years to come. To fill the gaps, employers must parse through a diverse selection of applicants to begin the process of stamping out inequality, gender pay parity and much more.

In order to meet this goal, the industry must recognize and overcome the pay disparity seen across all industries not only by gender, but also by color. While white women narrowed the wage gap in median hourly earnings by 22 cents from 1980 to 2015 (rising from 60 cents on the dollar to 82 cents), African-American women have only narrowed that gap by 9 cents, and Latina women narrowed it only by 5 cents.

Related: Meet the 13 women insurance commissioners across the U.S.

Recognizing what bars and enables women to advance

Unsurprisingly, men and women hold different views on the fairness of the workplace and their opportunities for advancement.

In a survey conducted by EY, women reported that an unsupportive culture and organizational bias both tied (28%) as the top barrier to women in leadership, followed by conflicts with raising a family (24%) and shortage of female candidates (7%).

On the flipside, a survey conducted by McKinsey & Company identified the top enablers for advancing women into leadership. Women responded and identified mentoring from senior leaders (54%) as the top enabler, followed by inclusive corporate culture that supports gender diversity (40%), strong female role models in the organizations (32%) and networking opportunities (29%).

The insurance industry, while slow to change, is constantly surrounded by everchanging elements. Technology, social media and more are redefining the industry on a daily basis, and advancing women to more leadership positions should be treated no differently.

If the industry is to continue to stand firmly on two feet in the coming years, it would do well to start with its backbone: women.

Related: Which P&C companies score high marks for diversity?