We’ve been talking about the lack of women in senior estate agency roles for years – but depressingly little has changed. Walk into any branch and you’ll find talented women running the show. Look up at the boardroom, and it’s still a sea of men.

I hold my hands up – that includes Spicerhaart. Despite more than half our workforce being women and some of our best-performing agents being female, there’s just one woman on our board: Samantha McLoughlin, our HR Director.

So we’ve been asking the hard questions. Why aren’t more women making it to the top? And what needs to change?

Samantha doesn’t sugar-coat it: “The problem isn’t ability in our industry – it’s access. Women aren’t being promoted at the same rate as men. They’re not being supported into leadership roles. And too often, they’re being left out of the conversations that matter.”

At Spicerhaart, we’re taking that seriously, looking at ways to encourage more diversity. This will help up tackle the gender pay gap – not because men and women are paid differently for the same job (they’re not), but because men are still more likely to be in the higher-paid, senior positions. That has to change.

As Samantha puts it: “We’re changing how we recruit and promote. We’re identifying the barriers – the perceived glass ceilings – and we’re removing them. We want women to feel empowered to put themselves forward. And when they do, we’re making sure the support is there.

“Estate agency has always been a people business. It’s built on connection, trust, resilience, and intuition – qualities that women bring in abundance. So it’s vital we encourage more women into senior roles by ensuring the pathway to senior positions is more accessible and visible.

The stats back it up. A We Are Unchained/YouGov survey showed that while 52% of estate agency roles are held by women, almost all are in non-management positions. There’s a 30-point drop between branch and boardroom. Worse still, according to the 2024 Voice of the Agent survey, 85% of female agents say they’ve experienced gender-based discrimination – and most didn’t report it, fearing nothing would change.

Samantha adds: “That tells me there’s still a fear culture. That people don’t believe the system will protect them or take them seriously. That has to be fixed from the top down.”

Some point to the self-employed model as the answer – flexibility, no ceiling, your business on your terms. But in the U.S., where two thirds of realtors are women, the typical realtor sells just 10 properties a year, according to the National Association of Realtors – with many having to supplement their income with a second job.

That’s not empowerment. That’s being left behind.

If we’re serious about change, we need to be far more flexible in terms of part time work, job shares and hybrid roles. This needs to be supported by structured mentoring pathways, not just pep talks but sponsorship and succession planning. We need to stop hiring in our own image and, importantly, any discrimination or bias needs to be rooted out.

Samantha accepts the industry has evolved: “But not far enough. Diverse leadership isn’t just a nice-to-have. It’s a competitive advantage. However, we’re still a long way off.”

And there’s the issue of safety too – for both women and men. As Samantha reminds me: “Estate agency still has too many lone working scenarios. From door knocking to late viewings – these policies must be written with women’s safety in mind. That doesn’t happen unless women are in the room when those policies are made. It’s usually men who will make the decisions – but we need to hear about women’s fears too.

None of this is about tokenism. It’s about unlocking the full potential of our industry. We can’t afford to keep wasting talent. And we shouldn’t be relying on volunteer groups like Women in Estate Agency to fix what’s fundamentally broken.

As Samantha tells me: “We need to shift the narrative from ‘Can women lead in estate agency?’ to ‘What are we doing to champion and accelerate their success?’ I see encouraging signs every day – in the women stepping confidently into senior roles, in the new generation of female agents finding their voice, and in the growing conversations around inclusion and leadership.

“Yes, the glass ceiling still exists. But it’s cracking. And with every crack, we create more space for the next generation to rise.”

As I see it, this isn’t about ‘holding doors open.’ It’s about dismantling the barriers that shouldn’t have been there in the first place. Real change means rewriting policies with all voices at the table, calling out bias, and building clear, supported pathways to leadership. Because when women lead, our whole industry thrives – and that’s a future we all have a role in shaping.

Paul Smith is founder and chairman of Spicerhaart.