For the last several weeks I've been immersedin the stories of women who have achieved enviable success in theinsurance industry (see more at propertycasualty360.com/tag/top-women). Their stories,backgrounds and life situations are all very different, but all ofthem share great skills and a dedication to an industry that wasn'talways that conducive to having them around.

Several of the women I spoke with have been in the industry for30 years or more. Two familiar names are Donna Pile and Sharon Emek. Both of their stories are characteristic of thetimes in which they came of age.

Pile started her career in 1977 after a divorce left her withthree small sons to support. Her dad owned an agency, and shemanaged to balance a growing career with raising her kids. “My sonswent to many a company meeting and clients' houses and stayed inthe agency with me for preschool years,” she said.

Sharon Emek's mid-1980s entrée into insurance came as agencieswere first beginning to adopt automation. “Both CIGNA andAetnagavetheir key agencies computer terminals. Agencies at that time hadminimal management procedures, never mind an understanding oftechnology,” she said. “I was a consultant to closely heldcompanies, helping them develop management and technologyprocedures. To help them, I recognized that I had to learninsurance, which I did. I became a licensed insurance broker and aCIC.”

Both women remember what it was like to be the only woman in theroom. “One of my carriers finally had a younger man making thecalls on agency bonuses,” Pile said. “He asked why as a partner inthe agency I was never at a meeting. I replied that I was neverinvited. He said nothing but when the letter came, it included myname. And every letter after that included my name.”

Although women today are still underrepresented in the C-suite,the playing field is far more level today. Because it deals withthe buyer, the agent/broker segment has always been more amenableto gender equality, which is evident in the large number of youngfemale agency owners. And with more women graduating withbachelor's and advanced degrees, the talent pool is bigger thanever.

So based on the numbers—women hold only 6 percent of top executivepositions at insurers and reinsurers—yes, the glass ceilingstill exists. But based on other numbers—in 2011, women represented51 percent of the U.S. PhDs, 51 percent of business schoolapplicants, 67 percent of college graduates, and more than 70percent of college valedictorians (National Center for Education Statistics)—it'scracking fast.

Laura Mazzuca Toops, Editor