Getting Women onto Boards - Why Sponsorship Matters More than Mentoring
Leadership progression in real estate
Across the real estate sector, mentoring programmes and leadership networks have become a common feature of efforts to support female talent. Leadership development initiatives, internal mentoring schemes and industry networks are widely recognised tools for building confidence, capability and visibility.
These initiatives matter. But mentoring alone is unlikely to change the composition of senior leadership - and progress at the most senior levels remains slow.
Women remain underrepresented in senior leadership across the real estate sector. Research highlights the scale of the gap:
Women represent around 38% of the global commercial real estate workforce but hold only around 14.5% of C-suite roles (CREW Network¹; Deloitte²)
Women occupy roughly 25–30% of board positions and approximately 20-30% of senior leadership roles within the UK property sector (Real Estate Balance³)
By comparison, women now hold around 43% of board seats across FTSE 350 companies (FTSE Women Leaders Review⁴)
Research across multiple industries suggests part of the explanation may lie earlier in leadership pipelines. McKinsey’s Women in the Workplace study highlights the persistence of the “broken rung” in corporate promotion: for every 100 men promoted to manager, only around 93 women are promoted⁵. Small gaps early in careers can compound over time, contributing to underrepresentation at the most senior levels.
While many factors influence progression into senior leadership, one that has received increasing attention in leadership research is sponsorship — and the extent to which individuals benefit from senior advocacy as careers progress. Research suggests women are less likely than men to benefit from sponsorship, despite often receiving similar levels of mentoring, which may contribute to slower progression into senior leadership roles.
If gaps in progression begin early and compound over time, organisations may benefit from looking not only at how talent is developed, but also at how individuals gain visibility and advocacy as careers progress. Ensuring women benefit from sponsorship to the same extent as men could therefore play an important role in helping leadership pipelines translate into more balanced representation at the top.
Mentorship vs Sponsorship
Mentorship and sponsorship are terms often used interchangeably, but they perform different roles in career development.
Mentorship focuses on development. Mentors provide advice, perspective and guidance, helping individuals refine leadership skills and navigate challenges.
Sponsorship, by contrast, involves active advocacy. A sponsor uses their influence to support someone’s progression - recommending them for opportunities, introducing them to decision-makers and advocating for them when leadership roles emerge.
The sponsorship gap and why it matters
Women tend to receive mentoring at similar — indeed often higher — rates than men, yet are less likely to benefit from sponsorship.
Research discussed in Harvard Business Review - based on a study of more than 4,000 high-potential professionals - showed that women were actually more likely than men to have mentors, yet still progressed more slowly in their careers⁶.
McKinsey and LeanIn.Org found that women are less likely than men to benefit from sponsorship, despite its strong influence on promotion outcomes. Only 31% of women at entry level report having a sponsor, compared with 45% of men. At senior level this rises to 66% for women and 73% for men.⁷
This dynamic has often been described as women being “overmentored and undersponsored.” As observed in Harvard Business Review, “high-potential women are overmentored and undersponsored relative to their male peers ... Without sponsorship, women not only are less likely than men to be appointed to top roles but may also be more reluctant to go for them.”⁸
The distinction matters because sponsorship involves advocacy at the moments when career progression decisions are made, while also giving individuals the confidence to pursue more senior opportunities. Research on sponsorship highlights that senior advocates often help individuals gain access to high-visibility assignments and stretch opportunities that shape leadership trajectories.
Evidence from McKinsey’s Women in the Workplace study reinforces the impact of this advocacy: employees with sponsors are promoted at nearly twice the rate of those without, yet women remain significantly less likely than men to have a senior sponsor advocating for them.
Sponsorship in a relationship-led industry
Real estate remains a relationship-driven industry where reputation, trust and professional networks carry significant weight.
In practice, many senior appointments begin to take shape well before a formal recruitment process starts, influenced by networks, reputation and leadership advocacy. While many professionals demonstrate exceptional experience and strong leadership potential, progression is rarely determined by capability alone. Even within formal processes, advocacy can influence who enters the conversation - and how individuals are perceived once they are under consideration.
In an industry such as real estate, where relationships and reputation often shape leadership progression, access to sponsorship may play a particularly important role in determining who ultimately advances into senior roles. Ensuring women benefit from sponsorship to the same extent as men is therefore critical to achieving a more level playing field in leadership progression.
From development to advocacy
For senior leaders, sponsorship is not simply an organisational initiative — it is a personal leadership responsibility. If organisations want to strengthen inclusive leadership pipelines, mentoring programmes alone will not be enough. Greater attention must be given to equal sponsorship. This requires a shift in how senior leaders think about talent development — moving beyond supporting capability to actively advocating for potential.
Four practical shifts can help:
Make sponsorship visible - Sponsorship often happens informally. Encouraging leaders to reflect on who they actively advocate for can introduce greater awareness - and help ensure advocacy is distributed more equitably.
Ask who is advocating for talent - In succession or promotion discussions, one question can be revealing: Who is advocating for this person when they are not in the room?” If talented individuals do not have visible advocates in leadership discussions, opportunities may quietly pass them by.
Look beyond development metrics - Many organisations track participation in mentoring programmes. Far fewer consider who is actively being sponsored in promotion or succession conversations.
Encourage sponsorship beyond familiar networks - Sponsorship relationships often form within existing professional networks. Encouraging leaders to advocate for talent beyond their immediate circles can help ensure sponsorship reflects the full breadth of leadership potential within an organisation.
The leadership imperative
Improving representation at senior levels is not simply about developing talent. It is about ensuring talented individuals are actively and equally considered when leadership opportunities arise.
Mentoring programmes have played an important role in supporting female talent and strengthening leadership pipelines. But mentoring alone cannot address disparities in progression if advocacy in promotion discussions remains uneven.
The need for current senior leaders to actively and equitably sponsor and advocate for talented individuals is clear. Employees with senior-level sponsors are more likely to be promoted than those whose sponsors sit at lower levels, and individuals with multiple sponsors are more than twice as likely to advance as those without.⁹
Ultimately, improving representation will depend not only on how organisations develop talent, but on who leaders choose to advocate for when opportunities arise. Ensuring talented women receive the same sponsorship and advocacy as their male peers will be an important step towards achieving more balanced leadership across the real estate sector.
References
CREW Network, Benchmark Study: Workplace Data and Industry Trends in Commercial Real Estate (2025)
Deloitte, Women’s progress in real estate is at risk of stalling (2024)
Real Estate Balance, Industry Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Survey (2024)
FTSE Women Leaders Review, FTSE Women Leaders Review Report (2025)
McKinsey & Company and LeanIn.Org, Women in the Workplace (2025)
Ibarra, H., Carter, N. M., and Silva, C., Why Men Still Get More Promotions Than Women, Harvard Business Review (2010).
McKinsey & Company and LeanIn.Org, Women in the Workplace (2025)
Ibarra, H., Carter, N. M., and Silva, C., Why Men Still Get More Promotions Than Women, Harvard Business Review (2010).
McKinsey & Company and LeanIn.Org, Women in the Workplace (2025)