NU Online News Service, May 22, 10:46 a.m. EDT
NEW YORK–Women work in insurance underwriting and claims in huge numbers, but only a minute fraction are hired by insurers as directors or chief executives, according to data presented at a meeting here.
Seventy percent of the underwriters and 87 percent of the claims professionals are women, while only 16 percent of board of director seats and less than 1 percent of chief executive officers are women, according to a panelist at the Association of Professional Insurance Women's monthly luncheon gathering.
The panel, comprised of APIW's current Insurance Woman of the Year and three past Women of the Year, spoke on the topic: "How Talented Women Advance to Leadership Positions."
Rebecca Amoroso, vice chair and U.S. insurance leaser for Deloitte LLP and 2008 Insurance Woman of the Year until June 17, was panel moderator. She cited the statistics, noting that helping women to advance for leadership roles "is not just something nice to do; it's a business strategy that companies need to take seriously."
Other panelists were Linda H. Lamel, an attorney and a former insurance regulator, who was Insurance Woman of the Year in 1988; Corbette S. Doyle, a faculty member at Vanderbilt University, a speaker and writer, and Woman of the Year in 2006; and Janice Menke Abraham, president and CEO of both United Educators Insurance and United Educators Management Company and Woman of the Year in 2004.
Ms. Amoroso observed that women are becoming more educated than ever. By 2013, she said, projections are that 60 percent of those receiving advanced degrees will be women.
While it may not seem the case in today's environment, she said, "We are headed toward a talent crisis. As the baby boomers retire, it is projected that demand will exceed supply."
She said that organizations that wish to attract and retain talented women will need to have role models.
When asked what mentoring has done for their careers, Ms. Doyle said she learned two things from her mentor: how to say "no" to projects that would have been too much to take on, and how to decide "what not to do–what positions not to take," such as which committees not to serve on.
Ms. Lamel said her first mentor, an elected official, insisted that she attend law school, which has served her well in her career.
She emphasized the importance of having a mentor in a corporate setting, who will explain "what the guys know as a result of playing football and basketball and baseball and all the other things that they did together–in the locker room or on the ball field."
She added, "There's a culture that comes with that, and a good mentor for a woman is someone who understands what has evolved from that culture."
Ms. Abraham pointed out that because many people don't believe that anything is possible for them, it's important to have role models who can help them see the possibilities.
"Role models count, they matter," she said, adding that one of the most important role models today is President Barack Obama.
In a discussion about women board members, Ms. Lamel observed that women are "more attuned to generating discussion about whether or not a company is 'walking the talk.'"
She noted, "If I visit an office and I notice that everyone in the telephone call center is a black female and everybody in the IT department is a South Asian or American male, I want to call that to the attention of the company's CEO."
While this could be accidental, she said, "in my mind it deserves examination, in order to make sure that we don't have managers who are unable to cope with people who don't look like themselves."
She added, "As a board member, you have a lot of power."
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