She opens up about being taken less seriously than her male co-workers
Looking back at the past couple of years, Amber Mandir (pictured) believes the mortgage industry has come a long way in fostering a culture of gender equality and respect in the workplace – but fixing the gender disparity in leadership positions is another problem entirely.
Mandir, senior vice president of wholesale operations at NextUs Lending, sat down with Mortgage Professional America in its latest edition of MPA Talk, where she shared her experiences as a young mortgage professional breaking into the industry and discussed a gender gap that held her back during those early years.
“In my younger days, I felt more that I wasn’t taken seriously because of my age. Maybe that was misplaced because I was young, a bit of a spitfire, and very thirsty for knowledge. I wanted to rise up the ranks a lot faster than I think anybody was ready for. I was constantly told it was my age and my experience level,” Mandir said. “I do think that as I’ve gotten older, I do notice that there are certain circumstances where, in my opinion, I’m not taken as seriously as maybe my male counterparts. However, I overcompensate for that with dealing in facts and less emotion.”
Now that she’s in a higher-level position and working with top executives, Mandir knows she can confidently deal with any gender bias and tackle discrimination thanks to those early-career challenges. She also highlighted the positive changes that have been made in the mortgage space.
“I can tell you that the landscape has completely changed from when I started as a teenager. There were just men in sales and women in operations, which was the general mix-up. It was rare to see women crossover to the sales side or men crossover to the operations side. Over the last 20-plus years, I have seen that change dramatically to where it is now,” Mandir said.
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“The last 10 years, at least my staff, my operations staff, has been almost equally 50% men, 50% women, and the same with the sales team. There are a lot more women in sales. So those are the changes that I’ve noticed myself over the years. I believe that the mortgage industry is somewhat unique in that respect, where people tend to respect skill and knowledge and a thirst for knowledge and tend to foster that and mentor that, at least in my own personal experience. However, there is still a disparity between upper-level executives, with the majority still men and the minority women.”
Mandir delved into other issues on diversity, equity, and inclusion and offered advice to other women looking to advance their own careers in the MPA Talk podcast episode, which you can listen to here for free.
