Insurance was — and still is — a man's profession. Themale dominated careers within the industry have often beenuninviting and unattractive to female business professionalslooking for promising and rewarding futures. Times have changed andso has the insurance industry.

In fact, according to the Insurance IndustryCharitable Foundation (IICF), 75% of women in the insuranceindustry believe that progress is being made toward the goal ofachieving gender equality in the industry, while two-thirds saythey have seen work being done within their own organizations.

[Related: How firms can add young women — and boostperformance]

So which individuals, organization and resources are the realchampions of the cause?

The professionals

Gail Linn started her career in the airline industry. When amerger presented her with a generous leave package, she acceptedand decided on a whim to interview with MetLife. She started withthe insurance giant in 1989; the only woman in an office of 20 men.Today, 17% of the advisors at her MetLife Premier Client Group ofNew York City are female.

Linn is not surprised at the growth, considering the benefitsthe career has for both men and women alike. “There is no glassceiling and you have total flexibility to build a market that youcan be passionate about and fits your lifestyle,” says Linn, who isfeatured in a soon-to-be-published book titled “Financial Services:Women at the Top” by Diane Dixon & Arthea Reed.

And what advice would she give women fresh out of college andwondering if insurance is the right career for them? Connect,contact and comprehend.

“She should reach out and speak with as many women in financialservices as possible,” says Linn, adding that connecting with localchapters of NAIFA — many of which have special events forthose under 40 — will prove beneficial. Also helpful isreading as many insurance and financial services trade journals aspossible, Linn stressed, especially those that promote women oryoung advisors.

“Consumers today are looking for trusted relationships withfinancial advisors they can seek out to help them make smartchoices about their money and women are extremely suited tobuilding those relationships,” she adds.

(Photo: Shutterstock)

Like Linn, Eileen McDonnell didn't have aspirations of aninsurance career. When she graduated from Molloy College on LongIsland, she started working for WANG Labs. While at WANG, she beganearning her MBA in Finance from Adelphi University, which set thestage for a change in her career. Equitable (now AXA) was a largeclient of WANG, and McDonnell received an introduction intoEquitable and was hired as a financial manager. Now, McDonnellserves as the chairman, president and CEO of Penn Mutual, aninsurance organization working towards gender equality.

[Related: Women in the industry: Scenes from IICF's Women inInsurance Global Conference]

“We have a company with over 40% of our board and seniorleadership who are women,” says McDonnell. “We 'walk the talk.'Other companies are trying to aspire to what we have alreadyachieved. Our attention is now focused on increasing the number offemale advisors.”

McDonnell practices what she preaches by taking the time andopportunity to speak with young women about a career in insurance.“I tell them today what I have told them over the years: If youwant to live a life of significance and make a positive impact onpeople's lives, this is the career for you,” she says. “You willwork hard, but it will never feel like hard work.”

Dana Hollinger, founder of Beverly Hills-based life insuranceand estate planning firm Dana Hollinger Group, has a morematter-of-fact view of the current state of diversity within theindustry. “The real question is not whether women are entering theindustry, it's whether or not they are staying in the industry andin what capacity,” she says. “I have always seen women inadministrative roles at the carriers. How many are gettinginto the E-suite?”

Hollinger's questions bring to light a serious issue within theindustry: women and leadership roles. Groundbreaking 2013 researchby Mike Angelina, executive director, Academy of Risk Management and Insurance, Saint Joseph'sUniversity, showed that only 12.6% of women in the insuranceindustry hold board of director positions, 8% are named insideofficers and only 6% hold C-suite positions.

Hollinger strives to help women with her practice, believingthat when you inform and educate women you elevate women, and, inturn, society. But she's not as optimistic when it comes to womenworking in the industry. When asked if Hollinger sees the insuranceindustry as a great career option for women, she says “not at themoment, but hopefully soon.”

(Photo: Shutterstock)

The companies

It's not all gloom and doom for women in insurance, however.Some companies within the industry are taking aggressive steps toensure employees represent gender diversity. And the year-over-yearresults are tangible.

[Related: APIW Insurance Woman of the Year: Breckenridge CEOTracey Carragher]

According to the IICF, the percentage of women who cited “biasesin advancement” and “lack of opportunities for professionaladvancement” as the chief barriers to advancement for women ininsurance fell from 76% in 2014 to 68% in 2015. Are companiesfinally beginning to value diverse leadership? A few certainlyare.

Lincoln Financial Network is one. Women make up 14% of theadvisor population at the company, while The WISE Group (WomenInspiring, Supporting, Educating), an enterprise-wide effort drivenby LFN's female advisors, aims to attract even more.

“Today, less than 10% of client-facing advisors in the U.S. arewomen,” says Nicole Spinelli, director, The WISE Group. “We believethat diversifying our advisor population will benefit our existingadvisors and clients. We strive to be the broker-dealerfor women advisors.”

Spinelli says LFN has much to benefit from adding more women tothe force, since they are innate relationship builders, “which makethem excellent advisors,” she says. “Growing our network of womenadvisors — and empowering our female clients — will havean extremely positive effect for our clients and our overallbusiness.”

Executives at Guardian Life agree. They see the need fordiversity as twofold: the benefit of diverse teams from a financialand productivity standpoint, and remaining relevant to consumers,many of whom represent diverse backgrounds.

And now, the company is in the midst of a multifacetedinitiative aimed at increasing the number of women financialprofessionals. Guardian is working to develop female leadershipwithin the salesforce, creating community among female employees,providing mentors and working to ensure the company creates aninclusive culture that allows all employees to thrive.

(Photo:Shutterstock)

A recent article in Forbes by Sasha Galbraith reportedthat women control just over half of the wealth in the UnitedStates and that number is expected to grow to two-thirds by 2020.Couple that with the need in the market for more financialprofessionals overall and it would seem that a career in insuranceand financial services would be an obvious choice for women.Unfortunately, that's not the case.

“Having grown up in this industry, I'm passionate about figuringthis out once and for all and making sure more women have access toa financial advisor and consider this career as an option,” saysEmily Viner, vice president, agency growth and development atGuardian Life Insurance Company of America. “We can recruit womenall day, but if they don't survive and thrive, it's a waste. That'swhy the work to recruit, grow and retain women in this industrytakes consistent, dedicated resources.”

[Related: Owning it: Starr Companies' LeilaniBrown]

Guardian has experienced success when it comes to the company'sfemale sales leaders. After learning that many women had notconsidered a move to management because they had never been asked,Guardian started asking. Since 2012, the company has seen a 71%increase in the number of female managing directors and thecomposition of Guardian Leadership Institute graduates — thecompany's talent bench for its salesforce — is now at 26%women. Furthermore, in both 2013 and 2014, Guardian's top newagents were women.

New York Life is yet another company that is putting effortstowards gender equality in the industry. The insurance giant“recognizes that there is real value that the field force of agentsreflects the community in which we serve,” said Kimberly Fisher,corporate vice president and head of the women's market, New YorkLife. “Thirty-five percent of our new recruits in 2014 were womenand we are on track to beat that percentage in 2015.”

The company is investing in supporting women agents in the fieldby hosting workshops, creating marketing materials and sales piecesdesigned to help them succeed, along with monthly webinarsdiscussing best practices for success within the industry.Apparently, New York Life's efforts are working.

In 2014, of the 1,179 female MDRT members in the United States,32% were New York Life agents, making the company the leader infemale MDRT membership. In fact, New York Life has more than fourtimes as many women members than the second-place company.

(Photo:Shutterstock)

The resources

While women continue to make strides within the insuranceindustry, there is always room for improvement and support fromoutside of their employer. The Women in Insuranceand Financial Services (WIFS) organization is one suchresource.

What first began in 1936 as the Women Leaders Round Table hasgrown into a 1,100-member organization for women looking to gainknowledge and success in their field. The organization even hasmale constituents looking to better understand the opposite sex,especially when it comes to management, recruiting andprospecting.

[Related: IICF survey: 68% of industry women feel companiespromote gender diversity]

“We have quite a number of male members and it's a segment ofmembership that's rising,” said Deb Duff, WIFS executive director.“Most are managers who are interested in attracting women to thebusiness or already leading teams of women.”

Among a host of other benefits, WIFS offers its memberseducation (in the form of live webinars), mentoring programs, anational conference, networking opportunities, local chaptermembership, online resources, and seemingly unlimited peer supportand recognition.

On the other side of the industry, Brokers International, anindependent insurance marketing organization, has developed afemale-focused organization. Women's Mentoring Agent Network(WOMAN) was designed for women who can benefit from a network oflike-minded professionals that can constantly share new ideas,resources and ways to differentiate themselves in the industry.

Members of WOMAN participate in networking forums withtop-producing women in the insurance and financial servicesindustry, are awarded for accomplishments, engage in roundtablediscussions and breakout sessions designed to address the successand challenges each member encounters and attends monthly webinarsrelated to industry trends, event ideas and marketing strategies,to name a few.

There's also the Financial Women's Association(FWA), which brings together high achieving professionals fromevery sector of the financial world, including insurance.Established in 1956 when eight enterprising women on Wall Streetmet to share professional experiences and learn from one another,the organization has grown to a respected association with 945members and countless events.

With so many resources, company efforts and like-minded rolemodels working towards the same goal, it may seem that genderequality within the insurance industry isn't so far off. There is along road ahead, however. But at least there are many cracks in theceiling.