Women in parking detail persistent discrimination and harassment, calling for zero-tolerance policies, more female leadership, and meaningful cultural change.

By Jay Landers

Editor’s Note: This article contains references to sexual harassment, discrimination, and assault. With this article, Parking Today is starting an ongoing series of articles addressing challenging topics facing the industry, topics that frequently fail to receive the attention they deserve. As a means of continuing this discussion, the upcoming PIE 2026 conference will include a panel discussion on the topic of gender discrimination in parking and a forum addressing how to handle uncomfortable workplace interactions.

The U.S. parking sector historically has been a male-dominated industry, though women have begun making inroads in recent decades. As more women have entered parking, the reception has not always been a welcome one. Over the years, women have encountered discriminatory policies regarding hiring and promotion as well as harassment in the form of inappropriate comments, requests for sexual favors, unwanted physical contact, and even violence.

Although clear progress has occurred, women in parking continue to endure sexual discrimination and harassment that, some say, is worse than what women face in society at large. To raise awareness of these issues, Parking Today spoke with multiple women who have proudly made careers in parking, despite the difficulties they have encountered. Their stories are included here with the goal of sparking a larger discussion about the obstacles faced by women in parking and what can be done to eliminate them.

Several of the women who spoke to Parking Today wished to remain anonymous. In such cases, this article uses aliases to protect their identities.

Neither ‘isolated or subtle’

“Jane” has worked in the parking and transportation management industry for nearly three decades, holding executive-level positions for much of that time at different parking companies. Although she has achieved success during her career, Jane did so despite “years of persistent, aggressive gender discrimination and harassment,” she said. “This has not been isolated or subtle,” she said. “It has been systemic and ongoing. I have endured bullying, intimidation, and repeated efforts to silence and marginalize me and have seen the same treatment to so many other women.”

Another industry veteran, Katherine Beaty, the CEO and president of the parking and mobility consulting firm Beaty Solutions, has “experienced the full spectrum of what women encounter in male-dominated industries, from subtle but persistent bias to overt harassment and violence,” she said. “There were also recurring incidents of inappropriate comments, unwanted advances, and violations of professional boundaries. In one of the most serious cases, I was held against my will and sexually assaulted by an individual working an event in a security role. That experience was traumatic and has stayed with me throughout my career.”  

“Michellle” has worked in the parking industry for more than four decades. Early in her career, more than one male employer made it “abundantly clear that he expected me to give sexual favors,” she said, requests she flatly refused. 

With more than 25 years of experience in the parking industry, “Christi” has had to endure various forms of harassment. In her experience, the problem is worse in the parking industry compared to society at large. “I’ve been sexually harassed more at work than I ever have been at the grocery store, at Lowe’s, or anywhere else,” she said.

At one of her early jobs, Christi’s manager pulled out her shirt and looked down it. Once at a parking industry conference, Christi hugged a vendor she’d known “for many, many years,” she said, only to have him grab her buttocks. As jarring as the experience was, her main concern was that anyone witnessing the encounter would think she condoned the unwanted behavior. “I didn’t want anyone to see it and think that I was okay with it,” she said.

Walking a tightrope

Women in sales roles, in particular, often find themselves having to walk a proverbial tightrope when interacting with men in the parking industry, said “Erica,” who has worked in parking for nearly a decade. “You have to navigate being just friendly enough, but not being too friendly that they think that you’re flirting with them,” she said. However, women are expected to “stay in their place” while also having to be “aggressive enough to get a deal done,” she said. “It’s a hard landscape to navigate.”

At the same time, Erica noted, women who speak up when problematic behavior occurs can risk losing a client or jeopardizing a professional relationship. “Sometimes you have to make that ugly, uncomfortable decision” about whether speaking out is worth the potential cost of doing so, she said. Taking a stand also can attract unwanted attention within the broader parking community. “Nothing ever stays quiet,” she said. “It’s a small industry.”

It’s a common problem facing women in parking, Jane said. “Women who report harassment are often labeled as ‘difficult,’ retaliated against, or pushed out, while the men responsible face little to no repercussion,” she said. “This creates a culture of fear and discourages others from coming forward. The same treatment ensues with women who are strong leaders. Women who display high competence or, conversely, act in ways that challenge traditional gender roles, may experience backlash, including being passed over for promotions, harsh treatment from male counterparts, and lower performance ratings.”

Christi put it even more bluntly: Reporting discrimination or harassment amounts to “career suicide,” she said. The problem persists even in cases where whistleblower protection policies nominally are supposed to shield women from retaliation, Christi maintained. “You’re still labeled,” she said.

‘Denied opportunities’

Among the women who spoke to Parking Today for this article, a recurring complaint involved unfair personnel decisions that clearly favored male candidates over female candidates.

“Professionally, I have been denied opportunities that have been handed to my male counterparts, when I was equally or frequently more qualified,” Jane said. 

Michellle has experienced something similar. “I can see in my career where men were able to move through [to new professional roles] where women weren’t,” she said. “I was never afforded the same opportunity that men were being offered.”

In some cases, Jane said, male colleagues have sought to sabotage her career prospects for their own gain. “I have watched men take credit for my work time and time again,” Jane said. “This happens far more often than one would think. My contributions have been minimized or ignored as well. In some cases, male colleagues have outright lied about me to damage my credibility, either to try to take my position or to advance themselves into promotions that should have been earned on merit.”

‘Behind the times’

Although women continue to experience sexual discrimination and harassment throughout society, “the parking industry is significantly behind the times,” Jane said. “Many industries have at least begun to acknowledge these issues, implement formal policies, provide training, and make visible efforts toward accountability and inclusion. In contrast, the parking industry has been slow to evolve and, in many cases, resistant to change. 

“What sets the parking industry apart is how deeply entrenched and normalized discriminatory behavior remains, particularly within leadership. Rather than reflecting broader societal progress, the industry often operates under outdated, male-dominated power structures that prioritize loyalty over accountability,” Jane said.

Such conditions only help to perpetuate bad behavior, Jane noted. “Complaints are frequently minimized, ignored, or reframed to protect those in positions of authority, reinforcing a culture where harassment and discrimination are allowed to persist without consequence.”

Beaty agreed. “While certain behaviors have become less common, the underlying power dynamics have not disappeared,” she said. “In many cases, discrimination has simply become more subtle, harder to name, easier to deny, and therefore more exhausting to confront.”   

“These issues are not unique to parking,” Beaty noted. “However, where the industry has lagged is in how openly and consistently it has addressed them,” she said. “Parking has traditionally been insular and relationship-driven, which can make it easier to avoid uncomfortable conversations and harder to sustain them. While other industries have been forced, sometimes publicly, to reckon with these issues, parking has often moved more quietly, and therefore more slowly. That reluctance to fully confront the problem has allowed certain behaviors to persist longer than they should.”

A company’s culture plays a big role when it comes to preventing discrimination and harassment, Erica noted. “At the end of the day, if [equal treatment for women] is not a value in a company, it’s not going to be valued anywhere,” she said.

Leadership matters

Although more women than ever are involved in the parking industry, they have yet to attain the highest levels of leadership in numbers anywhere close to that of men. “Very few women are the owners of companies,” said “Beth,” who has worked in parking for several years. Throughout the parking industry, the C-suite level is occupied almost exclusively by “older white men,” she said.

Although such experiences can be “disheartening,” progress is occurring in the industry, albeit slowly, Beth said. “I think that we are moving generally in a better direction,” she said. 

“I have seen an increase in women leaders in the industry in leadership positions below the C suite, in vice president roles,” Jane said. “There has been some improvement there.”

As more women assume those leadership roles, conditions for women can be expected to improve, Beth said. “Visibility matters,” she said. “Representation matters, of course. I think that will only help to boost what’s possible.”

As someone who has never reported to a woman during her entire 25-year career in parking, Christi said that having more women in leadership will make it easier to address instances of discrimination and harassment. “If you report to someone who believes in empowering women, [that’s] much different than reporting to someone who marginalizes them,” she said.

Of course, not all men in parking seek to oppress women, Beth noted. “There are men in the industry who do champion women, who do give us real opportunities, and who want to see us succeed.”

Speaking up, carefully

When she started as an accountant in the 1980s at what was then one of the largest parking companies in the country, “anything to do with accounting was run by women,” said Ruth Beaman, the owner and executive director of the Beaman Group. However, the arrangement was hardly to the benefit of the women doing the work. “They sat in the background and put all the numbers together, so the guys could take the reports and take the credit for them,” Beaman said. She has documented such experiences in her recently published book “With All Due Disrespect: A Memoir.”

In 2001, Beaman and Kyle Cashion founded IntegraPark LLC, a provider of accounting and management software for the parking industry. In 2011, Beaman launched WOMEN IN PARKING (WIP), an organization dedicated to championing women in the industry that became part of the National Parking Association in 2019. In recognition of her many accomplishments, Beaman was recently selected by the Parking Hall of Fame to become part of its inaugural 2026 class of inductees (see the related story on page 26).

As her parking career progressed, Beaman realized that the only way to get ahead was to speak up for herself, though it had to be done carefully. “If you know you can do something better, you have to find a subtle way of letting people know,” Beaman said. “You can’t just walk in and say, ‘These people are idiots.’”

Fortunately, women in parking do a better job of speaking up for themselves today, and more women than ever are in leadership positions, Beaman said. Although women “still have a long way to go to be equal” with men, she said, progress has occurred. “Opportunities are opening up [for women],” she said.

What must be done?

So, what must be done to address the problems of sex discrimination and harassment in the parking industry? Perhaps not surprisingly, the women who spoke to Parking Today called for the hiring of more women in leadership roles. 

“Just putting women in more meaningful roles, more decision-making roles outside of [human resources], I think would be an important first step,” Beth said. 

“I have said for years that women need a real seat at the table in this industry,” Jane said. “Not token representation, but genuine inclusion in leadership and decision-making roles.”

“You have to hire more women,” Erica said, though she acknowledged that the process likely won’t happen quickly. Because people tend to hire others they have worked with before, and men are overly represented in parking, “there’s a cycle that’s going to take years” to address, she said. 

Because women are much more likely to discuss workplace harassment or discrimination with someone they trust, it “would be very beneficial” for organizations to cultivate such representatives, Christi said. Once they’ve established a level of trust and shared experiences, the representatives can “go back to leadership and have the difficult conversations,” she said.

Committed leadership can go a long way toward addressing the problems, Beaty said. “I’ve seen how much difference it makes when leadership sets clear expectations, listens, and acts,” she said. “Progress is absolutely possible, but it requires consistent, visible commitment rather than assuming time alone will solve the problem.”     

Along with more enlightened leadership, parking entities must act to root out bad behavior, Jane said. “Companies must enforce zero-tolerance policies consistently, regardless of a person’s position, tenure, or perceived value to the organization,” she noted. “Protecting perpetrators to preserve the status quo must end.”

“Mandatory, ongoing training is also essential,” Jane said. “Not checkbox training, but meaningful education that addresses power dynamics, bystander intervention, and respectful workplace behavior. Training must be reinforced by action; otherwise, it becomes performative and ineffective.”

Ultimately, the parking industry “must be willing to confront uncomfortable truths about its culture,” Jane said. “Progress will only occur when companies acknowledge the harm that has been done, listen to the experiences of women without defensiveness, and commit to measurable change. Until accountability, transparency, and inclusion become non-negotiable, discrimination and harassment will continue to thrive in the parking industry.”

‘More than just a moral issue’

By taking steps to address the problems of sexual harassment and discrimination, the parking industry as a whole would benefit, Jane said. “Eliminating these issues would lead to healthier workplaces where employees feel safe, respected, and valued, which directly improves morale, retention, and performance,” she said. “When people are not spending their energy protecting themselves or navigating hostility, they are able to fully contribute their skills, experience, and ideas.”

Having more women in the industry helps to bring different perspectives, Beth said. “I think it’s invaluable to have as many people at the table that can spot weaknesses or highlight strengths,” she said. “The industry would do well to heed their insight and their suggestions.”

The male-dominated nature of parking can dissuade some women from wanting to enter the industry, Erica said. “I think there is a stigma,” she said. “It’s hard to get quality women to come in and then stay long-term and want to work with individuals that don’t necessarily want them there.”

Countering discrimination and harassment and improving professionalism within the industry is more than just a moral issue, Beaty said. “It’s a business and sustainability issue,” she said. “Addressing discrimination and harassment directly improves trust, decision-making, and innovation. It also signals to the next generation that parking is an industry where they can build a long, meaningful career without compromising their dignity.”

JAY LANDERS is the editor-in-chief of Parking Today. He can be reached at [email protected].