Ahead of International Women’s Day (IWD) on Saturday (8 March 2025), Homes for Students has spoken to three female leaders about what the day means to them and how they find working as a woman in the purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) sector.
Laura Johnson, Head of Revenue, Homes for Students
“My personal experience since joining the PBSA sector almost six years ago has been extremely positive in terms of gender equality, with several females represented at a senior level across the sector. This is certainly the case within Homes for Students, and I personally haven’t found gender as a barrier for myself or any of my team. I do think there is lack of female representation across the wider the property and investment sector, and this is evident when looking across our client base which at a senior level does still seem heavily male dominated.
“I think it is important that as a business we continue to support initiatives such as The Girls Network and Inspiring Women in Property. We work with a vast number of investment and property companies, along with a number of institutional bodies across the sector and have a platform to continue to shine a light on the work that is still being done to achieve equality, and also highlight opportunities that other companies could tap into to support with this. We have an incredible number of talented females within the organisation, and we should continue to support their development into senior roles not only internally but across the wider industry too.
“Have confidence in yourself, understand what value you personally bring to the table and work hard to deliver in your role. I have never questioned my ability to succeed, or the value I can bring to an organisation due to my gender, and whilst I appreciate I have been fortunate to work for organisations that support gender equality, I believe this mindset is really important to help drive progression.”
Nisha Parmar, Business Development & Integration Director, Homes for Students
“During my time in the industry, I have seen some positive change in relation to the roles that women have been able to access and now use their skillset for. These roles have both been in middle management and some senior roles, which has been very encouraging to see. I suppose from a negative perspective the industry still has some way to go to ensure the gender equality gap is getting decreased quicker.
“I think by having a continued focus on women in the property sector will help achieve this both in the short and long term. Within the sector it would good to see what things have worked such as programmes, training and to continue doing these to accelerate equality quicker. Being able to support the events around IWD and also to be an ambassador for these will help further.
“My main advice would be around learning the sector [that you work within] outside a specific role, in order to get a fuller more robust understanding. By doing this, more opportunities can present themselves allowing young women to keep aspiring and then pushing into the leadership roles. Having other women that they can work with our look up to so that they feel inspired daily pushing them to become the inspirational leaders themselves.”
Nicola Rollin-Boone, Portfolio Operations Director, Homes for Students
“Days like IWD are a great vehicle for highlighting this however it would be good to have something maybe twice a year to ensure the focus is on it. So, each year there would be IWD but then the second part would be how the theme for example “Accelerate Action” is to be put into action, with organisations choosing to support / promote this.
“I have worked in the property industry and HFS for six years and I have to say my experience has only been positive. HFS are amazing at championing women in senior positions – I’ve had nothing but support. I am grateful that I was able to do shared parental leave with my husband and came back to work after maternity leave with into a more senior job than before. Lots of what I see about women that have been on maternity leave isn’t positive, but I’m glad to say I’ve had a good experience in my career at HFS.
“Though we have several women in senior roles at HFS, the wider property industry is still male heavy, but we are seeing more diversity than in previous years, which is of course great to see.
“For me, it was important to be able to have children and it not negatively affect my career – and that is something I’ve been able to do through shared parental leave, and both me and my husband having understanding employers. However, there is still a pressure there for mums to feel like they need to prove themselves – to show they can still be great at their job and be a mum too: we can do it all! Also, there’s still work to be done in the wider world when it comes to perspective – for example if my son is unwell, the nursery will call me first, despite my husband being the main contact!
“My advice for young women would be to not be afraid to put yourself out there – not everything will go exactly as you planned but that’s okay. You have to feel comfortable about being a woman, it’s okay to be ambitious – you don’t have to shy away, it’s okay to make your voice heard.
“It’s also important to be realistic, if you have a career goal, look at the steps to get there and surround yourself with people that want to help you on your journey. Think about who your people are that can take you under their wing. Look for people on Linkedin or online that inspire you, that doesn’t need to be another woman.
“Look for people who can be a mentor, that’s something that helped me and women are generally brilliant at supporting other women. I’ve found women do support women – there’s lots of people going through the same stuff – or lots of people that have been through the same thing and women are often good at sharing their experiences. Reach out to people and ask questions. The more positivity and stories that we can share, the more we can break down walls.
