Real estate is an industry heavily plagued by racial disparities. TSU is hoping to start ending that.
Racial disparity has plagued the majority, if not all, of industries in the U.S. And while the country’s made great strides in the decades since King and Parks, it’s a problem still prevalent in a number of popular professions, including real estate.
In an effort to shore up glaring gaps in minority real estate employment, Texas Southern University, one of the nation’s most prominent historically black universities, is introducing a focused, commercial real estate curriculum as part of its bachelor of business administration degree program.
The program, which began Jan. 20 and currently has 10 undergraduate enrollees, is being taught by David Mincberg of local Flagship Capital Partners and will help “create a new pipeline of minority students into the booming local and national real estate community,” according to Ronald Johnson, who recently discussed the program in an interview with Houston Business Journal.
A History of Discrimination
News of TSU’s added concentration is not only a significant step in Houston, but sends a message nationwide that, first, acknowledges the persisting racial disparities in real estate, and, second, aims to help fill gaps left by decades of discrimination.
According to figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2014, the racial makeup of agents and brokers was overwhelmingly white. African American professionals accounted for 5.4 percent of the national industry, compared to white professionals, which accounted for approximately 80 percent. This disparity is especially relevant in Houston, where the local Realtor’s association only recently integrated its ranks in the last half century.
“There’s really a gap in this market,” Johnson told the Journal. “We want to increase minority participation in that space.”
John L. Guess III, current president of the Houston Black Real Estate Association, spoke to the Houston Chronicle earlier this month, mimicking Johnson’s sentiments. Guess applauded the strides black professionals had made in the residential side of the industry, but said, commercially, African Americans weren’t there yet.
“I think the reason why that is, in the commercial real estate business you deal with a lot of relationships, and minority brokers just have not been integrated into society to the level they can meet, greet and get know a lot of the power players in Houston and nationally,” he said.
A Bright Future for Black Students
Engineered to produce industry-ready graduates, TSU’s newest course will focus heavily on the financing and project management aspects of real estate development, Johnson told the news source. Throughout the year, students will benefit from a number of unique opportunities designed to submerse them in Houston’s rapidly growing commercial sector, such as field trips to construction sites and financial institutions.
“There’s a lot of wisdom that’s not in a business textbook,” Johnson said.
He went on to say that TSU’s aim will be to keep students in contact with professionals, helping them ease into the culture, so upon graduation they have an adequate understanding of what to expect. The goal of the program, assuming it attracts the attentions of enough students, is to expand and ultimately offer a more encompassing real estate curriculum.
Johnson told the Journal the course is imperative for not only the local black community, but also for Houston in general. Considering the leaps and bounds growth has taken in the last few years, cultivating hometown talent is a must. Otherwise, Houston brokerages could find themselves , stuck in a position where importing expensive, top talent is a necessary to remain viable.