Why?

Because you're a credit union CEO and you're a woman, explained a number of female credit union 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 2% 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 Federal Credit Union 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," she said. "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 of experience as a credit union CEO. She has always worked for small credit unions but has never felt any prejudice from male counterparts.

"I've never been looked down on or taken more lightly than a man," she said. "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/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% 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," she said. "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."