The Insurance Brokers Association of B.C. (IBABC) has done something it has done only one other time in the association’s history – it has appointed a woman as president.
Founded in 1946 as the Insurance Agents’ Association of B.C., the renamed IBABC currently represents about 822 property and casualty insurance brokerages in approximately 140 B.C. communities.
IBABC president Dianna Johnsen recently addressed her place in the association’s history. In the process, she prompted a question about why more women aren’t among the ranks of senior executives, managers, principals and owners of brokerages.
“Some point to the fact I am only the second female president of our association in its long and illustrious history,” Johnsen wrote in B.C. Broker. “The reason there haven’t been more women in this position, it has often been suggested, is that there is an ‘old boys’ club.’
“However, when you look closer, you find that, traditionally, members have been more comfortable when the officers who are representing their interests to the government and industry are fellow owners who, as they say, have ‘skin in the game’ – brokers who understand and can, in turn, convey how changes affect small to medium-sized businesses.
“And the fact is, over the years in our province, there have been very few female owners, and fewer of those who could take time away from work and family to get involved in the association.”
Statistics bear out this observation in several other Canadian jurisdictions.
In Ontario, for example, 69% of brokers in the province with an unrestricted licence – which includes broker principals, partners and owners – were men in 2012. This pattern of male-dominated ownerships and partnerships is consistent throughout all financial service industries.
In contrast, for restricted broker licenses in Ontario, which includes licensed brokers who are not in upper-tier management level, women outnumber men by a ratio of 66% to 34%.
Some might look at the numbers and believe that a “glass ceiling” prevents women from making the level of a brokerage partner. But that observation belies the reality that more women have started filling the ranks of the industry’s most senior levels, if slowly.
“Anytime somebody says there is a glass ceiling that women aren’t getting over, I’m kind of curious about that,” said Margaret Parent, director of the professionals’ division of The CIP Society and Career Connections.
Parent said female brokers did see a 3% gain in the unrestricted license category between 2007 (72% male owners/partners) and 2012 (69% men). “What’s your best guess about what the percentages would have been 10 or 20 years ago?” she said. “We don’t have those stats, but I’m guessing that 20 years ago, it might have been 80%-20%, male-to-female. Aren’t women gaining here?”
Plus, demographics research by the Insurance Institute suggests women are coming of age. More women than men belong to the age cohort of people who would be taking over from retiring brokerage principals.
Can the insurance industry do more to support women who wish to take on the role of brokerage partner, principal or owner?
The question raises a complicated discussion about the choices women make and the contemporary family dynamics that influence their choices.
For example, people in the insurance industry typically wouldn’t think about becoming a brokerage principal until the age of 45 – a time when women may be choosing to stay at home to raise their families, thereby putting off the plunge into their careers until their children are no longer dependents.
“It wasn’t until my daughter hit her teen years or early 20s that I then started volunteering more in the industry, because I could,” said Beth Pearson, a partner at A.P. (Ontario) Insurance Brokers. “When you have kids at home, it’s all about cooking the meal and taking them to Girl Guides or dance – your time is consumed raising your family.
“Take a look at women in the industry who have families and it’s really hard to balance both well. And if you are going to take that leap [to become a broker principal], I think it sometimes happens later in your career.”
Pearson indicated she was only half-joking when she said day care service at a brokerage would help women who choose to make that leap. “You hear about the wonderful giants, like the Googles of the world, have a built-in gym and daycare for their thousands of employees in one location. When you are talking about a brokerage, a small enterprise of 10 people, that is just not feasible.”
