From the May 7, 1990, issue of Credit Union Times.

Your fellow CEOs get together to talk business over a round of golf. But you're not invited.

You're in the middle of a presentation to the board of directors and you feel that no is seriously listening.

You find out from a headhunter that you are qualified for a lucrative job opening, but you probably won't be considered.

Why?

Because you're a credit union CEO and you're a woman, explained a number of female CU presidents who recently talked with Credit Union Times. While all said that being a CEO is often no different for a woman than a man, they admitted that life at the top can be difficult, at times.

Doris Payne, executive director of Financial Women International in Chicago, said just getting to the top can be a tough climb for women.

“In the financial industry, only two percent of senior management are women,” Payne said. “That's the same percentage as it was 20 years ago. And it shouldn't be, because 43% of the financial industry's middle management is women. There's a tremendous pipeline waiting.”

“Decision makers” are in the way, Payne said.

“There are many women who are qualified today. Most of the people who make the decisions about hiring senior management are men. All of us tend to think that the person who can do the job is like us. That doesn't create a lot of diversity at the top.”

Payne admitted that the percentage of women CEOs is higher for credit unions than banks. However, the majority of women CEOs come from small credit unions she said.

Sharon Schultze, CEO at the $4 million St. Gregory's FCU in San Antonio admits she's frustrated when she thinks about moving up to a larger credit union.

“I know I'm entering the job hunt at a slight disadvantage,” said Schultze, who has been CEO at SGFCU since 1986. “I know I will have to be a little better and little more qualified than a man to be noticed.”

“I know that I won't be paid the same wages, either. That frustrates me because I do my job as well as any man. It bothers me because I'm the primary wage earner in my family.  My husband's disabled and I have a 12-year old son to care for.”

Schultze has 10 years experience as a credit union CEO. She has always worked for small CUs but has never felt any prejudice from male counterparts.

“I've never been looked down on or taken more lightly than a man. When it comes to moving up (to a larger credit union), then the line gets drawn. Maybe women have limited our opportunities to advance by not having been in the field as long as men. I think the traditional image of a financial CEO is a big man smoking a cigar.”

That image is perhaps getting stronger, suggested Ann Marie Navin, president and CEO for the $38 million HAR-Co Maryland FCU in Bel Air. Navin has been CEO of HAR-Co since 1965, when it only had $8,000 in assets.

“There were more women CEOs when I started. I've watched the numbers shrink. It used to be that only females would work for the small wages that credit unions used to pay. As credit unions and salaries have grown, the jobs have become more attractive to men.”

Dealing with the large number of male CEOs really hasn't been a problem for Marla Shepard, who acknowledges self-imposed pressures from being CEO of the $120 million Santel Federal Credit Union in San Diego.

“What I've found, more and more, is that I feel pressure to do well because I am a woman. About 80 percent of our employees are female, and I'm hearing that I am a role model.”

Outside the office, Shepard admits there are times when rubbing elbows with other CEOs isn't always as easy for a woman as it is for a man.

“CEOs often use sports activities, such as playing golf, to meet. I don't think men feel comfortable including women in sports-related activities.”

Shepard says she handles the day-to-day pressures of being CEO in stride. She is concerned with how other female CEOs cope, though.

“I know sometimes, men are chosen over women,” Shepard said. “On two occasions, a head hunter contacted me about a CEO position. But I was confidentially told that the board of the directors from the credit union wanted a male. My board of directors has always been supportive of me. In times when most CEOs at large credit unions are men, I think our board has been proud to have a woman.”

Nora Steward, from the $4.5 million Tex Mex Railway Employees Credit Union in Laredo, Tex., used to have an uncomfortable relationship with her board of directors.

While things are fine today, past boards threatened to fire her and turned deaf ears to her suggestions-all because Steward is a woman, she claimed.

About five years ago Tex Mex's board proposed hiring an assistant manager to Stewart. His salary would have been higher than Steward's, she said.

“That made me mad. I told the board that I had never seen anything like that in my life. And if they did that, I would file a discrimination charge. The move was stopped.”

Today Steward is a member of the Tex Mex board and her relationship is “great.”

She recalled her early years, though, when the board wouldn't listen to her.

“If the entire board is men, it can be hard to get your point across. Years ago, I had wanted to offer disability insurance to our membership. The board didn't want to do that because it wasn't their idea.”

Jean Trainor, CEO at the $200 million John Deere Community Credit Union in Waterloo, Iowa admits all-male boards can be “wary” of women, at first.

Trainor has been a member of the Iowa Corporate board for the past four years.

“I was the first female on the board and I sensed the men were a little wary. Once they got to know me, the fact that I am a woman has never been a problem.”

Finally, Clarice Smieja, CEO of the $14.7 million Sheboygan Area Credit Union in Wisconsin, has always felt comfortable in her position.

“If you know your business and are competent and professional, there is no difference for men or women,” Smieja said.