Conclusions and Call to Action

North America has the largest proportion of women facility managers compared to men, followed by Europe, South and Latin America, Asia Pacific, Africa and the Middle East. Women facility managers are about 45 years old and are less likely to be near retirement age than men in FM. Banking and investment, healthcare, education, and government are the most common industry sectors employing women in FM.

The large majority of FM professionals consider facility operations as their primary job function. Facility operations employs the most women professionals, followed by real estate, construction and projects and interior design and space planning. Women facility managers have achieved similar levels of higher education as men and are more likely to hold design related jobs than engineering related jobs. The type of degree doesn’t appear to significantly impact early career salary ranges. Facility managers with college degrees commonly majored in business management or facility management, regardless of gender. Although the gender mix from those entering FM from college still includes a small portion of women, business management and facility management majors are producing a fairly equal mix of genders; this point is noteworthy as a key in developing sustainable recruitment sources to grow women participation in FM.

Women facility managers constitute almost one in every three entry-level FM jobs. However, at senior-level jobs women hold less than one in five senior-level FM jobs, suggesting that women are not staying in the FM workforce. A better understanding of why women tend to leave the FM industry early in their careers, and what can be done to better retain them, is imperative to consider for FM diversity, equity and inclusion. The disproportionately small numbers of women in FM, and large number of men near retirement age, may be prompting employers to more aggressively recruit and retain women facility managers via higher compensation. While men and women receive similar pay for entry-level and early mid-level FM jobs, women receive significantly higher pay for more senior-level roles. Women seeking employment are also finding FM jobs much faster than men at every job level. Interestingly, higher pay for women seems unrelated to educational levels, amount of budget responsibilities, total staff managed, years of FM experience, job tenure, number of working and commuting hours, employment status (part-time vs. full-time and inhouse vs. contracted), number of employers or credentials. This may be one reason women facility managers are generally more satisfied with their overall compensation, especially as their career progresses to mid- and senior-levels.