In a room filled with men and women alike sporting pink ties andscarfs, Rick Metsger, NCUA vice chairman, shared that closing thegender gap begins in the board room.

“It's not about men or women, it's about performance andmentoring one another,” he said to attendees at the Global Women'sLeadership Network breakfast held during GAC in Washington March11. “If you focus on performance, everything else will fall inline.”

For Teresa Freeborn, president/CEO of the $932 million XceedFinancial Credit Union in El Segundo, Calif., that focus ispriceless, because an industry-wide, concerted effort to oppresswomen or keep them out of leadership has not existed.

“Most are astounded that we don't have a better balance,” shesaid. “They honestly have no idea that we're not living up to ourvalues as much as we should. Acknowledging that fact is the firststep toward the concrete actions that are needed to achieve a trulygender-blind future, where a singular focus on leadershipdevelopment and identifying potential will yield a much closer50/50 gender balance in the C-suite. We're a long way from that,though, so actively cultivating women in leadership is absolutelyessential.”

When evaluating the U.S. credit union movement, Metsger foundthat organizations driven by female CEOs had better CAMEL ratingsand higher net worth than those led by men. In addition, NCUA datashowed that 63% of credit unions up to $100 million in assets areled by women, but in the $100 million to $500 million category,that number decreased to just 25%. Female CEOs in credit unionswith more than $500 million in assets dropped to 15%, and only 34women are among the 224 CEOs who lead credit unions in the billiondollar plus range.

“Why a woman is the overwhelming choice for a job running aninstitution of $100 million but not the right choice at a $101million institution defies logic,” Metsger said. “Change starts atthe top. The boards of directors of the largest national tradeorganizations for credit unions include only six women among their39 directors. We can all do better.”

Countless studies have supported that a gender balance in anycompany's leadership team allows for better monitoring of corporateaffairs and higher quality decisions due to an expansion of ideas,perspectives, experiences, attention to detail and corporateresponsibility. According to Metsger, working toward leveling thescales could represent an opportunity for the credit union industryto lead the way.

“If you're concerned about your organization's performance inthe marketplace, you need to be concerned about having womenrepresented in your leadership ranks,” Freeborn said. “It's plainand simple: An organization with more women in the leadership ranksresults in a more effective one.”

So, what's keeping credit unions from achieving that goal?That's a question the Filene Research Institute, together with theWorld Council of Credit Unions, has been researching for more thana year. A recent study on the state of women's leadership withincredit unions conducted by Melissa Thomas-Hunt and Mahak Nagpal ofthe University of Virginia revealed the following five challengesto closing the gender gap at credit unions:

1. Pipeline problem: Women start working in lower-level roles anddepartments that do not directly lead to the executive suite.

2. Leadership style and perception: Across credit union asset size,women are perceived to use slightly more authoritarian leadershipstyles.

3. Leadership climate: Employees with female CEOs perceivethemselves differently than those managed by men.

4. Ambition and motivation: Mentors and mentees often group towardtheir own gender. With men more likely to hold senior credit unionpositions, women have a harder time getting a hand up.

5. Family concerns: Men and women did not report family as a careerinhibitor; but at the senior level, men are more likely to havechildren. Women more often seem to make tradeoffs between careerand family.

At Xceed Financial, where women comprise 80% of the executiveteam, 60% of the leadership team (one tier level below seniormanagement) and 55% of the nine-member board, Freeborn still seesroom for improvement. Recently, the credit union initiated formalprocesses for counting women at various levels and mentoringpromising women to ensure the credit union maintains and expands onits strong record of cultivating women leaders. Recognizing theneed for a work-life balance, the credit union also fosters afamily-friendly environment by offering flexible work practices andpolicies. She said this not only benefits both mothers and fathers,but paves the way for more young women to “lean in” and takeadvantage of opportunities to hop on the leadership track.

In looking at the credit union's overall culture, Freebornidentifies a strong appreciation for diversity of all kinds – notjust gender, but also racial, cultural and even age. She said thatfoundation has made it easier for staffers to believe that anyone,regardless of gender or ethnicity, can rise to the C-suite.

“When I was chosen to lead Xceed Financial, I benefitted from avery progressive and diverse board of directors,” Freeborn said.“But too often I think we see large credit unions simplyreplicating past choices without considering broader options andthe benefits of bringing more women into leadership.”

She added that at the end of the day, it's about shining a bigspotlight on advancing women in leadership in the credit unionindustry throughout the world.

“It's a formidable task, given our lackluster starting point,”she said. “But we have an amazing supply of professional women justwaiting to be called into action. And it's time to see asignificant increase in the number of women in power.”