Women are ruling college-graduating classes in Orange County. According to research from JLL, women accounted for more than half of the graduating classes at Orange County's top universities last year. At California State University, Fullerton, women made up 56% of the graduates; at Chapman University, women accounted for 60% of graduates; and at the University of California, Irvine, women accounted for 53% of graduates. The same study also found that real estate ranked among the top female-owned businesses in Orange County, on a list that included consulting services, information technology, the wholesale sector, engineering service and business services. We sat down with Paulina Torres, a research analyst at JLL, to talk about the research and how JLL is promoting gender diversity. GlobeSt.com: What does it say about the real estate industry that it made the list of the most active markets for female graduates? Paulina Torres: Considering that the real estate industry is the largest sector of the U.S. economy, as it accounts for 13 percent share of total US GDP, it is quite necessary for it to be one of the most active industries for female graduates. What is interesting is that, according to the most recent statistics released by the National Association of Realtors, 63 percent of all realtors are female and the most typical realtor is a 53-year-old female who attended college. It is great to see that the U.S. economy's leading segment is a place where women thrive. GlobeSt.com: What is the impact of having a graduating population of mostly female graduates, and how will that change the hiring process at companies? Torres: Women comprise over 56 percent of students on campuses nationwide. The first impact of an increasingly female educated population is an increasingly female workforce population, which is already happening. Since the mid-1990s, women in the U.S. began surpassing men in college attainment and now account for 46.8 percent of the country's labor force, a share that is higher than the median across 114 countries examined by the Pew Research Center. What's next is a close in the gender pay gap. Generational trends including past gaps in education and experience are likely contributing to the persistent gap between the sexes, which is because these disparities take time to disappear. However, given that female undergraduate enrollment is projected to continue to outpace male enrollment, the increasing presence of women as our most educated workforce will surely serve as a prominent and deserving driver in closing the gender pay gap and equally, removing gender bias from the hiring process. GlobeSt.com: How has this translated into diversity at JLL? Torres: At JLL, we understand that an inclusive working environment that challenges the norm leads to better decision-making and innovation. We see the positive outcomes of diverse collaboration on a daily basis. In fact, in the Americas, there is a direct correlation between diversity of teams and revenue won. In 2016, 56 percent of $1M+ deals were won by diverse teams. Moreover, women hold 44 percent of JLL's non-executive board of director seats – more than twice the average of the Fortune 1,000 companies. In addition, JLL employees consist of 60 percent more female professionals and officer-level employees than the industry average. JLL is continuously making great strides to help its employees grow, learn and evolve but also maximize the value of their diverse backgrounds and experiences to deliver excellence to our clients. GlobeSt.com: What is your outlook for gender diversity in the industry over the next five years? Torres: According to the Harvard Business Review, companies with high levels of diversity are 45 percent more likely to report growth on market share over the previous year. With women progressively becoming our most educated workforce and deepening their experience in the industry, and the increasing focus on escalating diversity, gender diversity in the sector is headed in the right direction and women are expected to continue to emerge as leaders in the real estate industry at an increasing rate.