Leading Question

When mingling at a business function or meeting in a boardroom, you'll likely shake more male hands than not. But the scale continues to adjust. "You see more women in leadership roles," says Rachelle Dover, immediate past president of the Neapolitan Chapter of the American Business Women's Association. Dover is a good example. She's been in the construction business as an employee of Naples' Professional Building Services and now serves as vice president of the company's real estate division.

The region boasts several top women executives in industries such as publishing, banking, real estate sales and development, construction, law and health care.

Pam Seay maintains a can-do spirit when contemplating the gender gap issue, and she believes many other women do the same. "Women are finally figuring out they can step out into the business world in new ways," she says. Seay knows all about that. She's an attorney at Fink & Boyle in Naples, specializing in international law; she is a professor of law at Florida Gulf Coast University; and she's a commissioner with the Charlotte County Airport Authority. "It's a trend that's no different than the rest of the country," she says.

And that's a big reason why Southwest Florida's image as a "good-old-boys" network is diminishing. People, particularly women, who have moved from large metro areas up North won't tolerate the bigotry.

Women also have learned to succeed on their own "We have a tremendous opportunity for entrepreneurial growth," says Charlotte Mack King, president and CEO of Resource Innovations Inc. in Fort Myers. "We've seen women-owned businesses balance out male-dominated executive positions."

Current statistics on women-owned businesses in Southwest Florida are not available, but they are for the Tampa area. There, companies owned 50 percent or more by women increased from 80,984 in 1997 to 104,073 this year, according to Washington, D.C.'s Center for Women's Business Research.

The trend continues to favor women who seek equal footing in the workplace, but it can be a struggle. Just ask Charlene Campbell, who owns a Cape Coral construction firm called Campbell Consulting and Contracting. On job sites, she works well with the stereotypical macho hard hats. The real challenge comes when she's trying to gain acceptance from the suits in the business. "It's tough," she says.