Women cite progress in advancing in casino industry

No women has yet reached the pinnacle of the Las Vegas business scene: Chief executive officer of a major casino company.

But that's not to say women haven't made big strides.

"When I got to Las Vegas in 1967, there weren't even women dealers," said Diana Bennett, president of D.L. Bennett & Associates, a gaming management and consulting company. "Now, you have women casino managers, general managers. (A female CEO) is going to happen. It's just a matter of time."

A group of women who beat the odds and became high-level executives in a male-dominated industry told their stories at last month's Gaming Ops '99 seminar. In their view, the so-called "glass ceiling" separating women from the top in casinos is still there, but weakening.

While they were moving up the ladder, female executives were so rare that none of the speakers had a single woman mentor. Mentoring the next generation of women casino employees for executive careers will be crucial, they said.

"As the industry becomes more widespread, the pool of good executive level talent is diminishing," said Alida DelPonte, vice president of casino operations at MGM Grand Inc. "So they have to broaden their horizons (for recruitment).

"When I'm in a boardroom, I don't think about (being the only woman there)."

Though it's unclear how many Nevada gaming executives are women, Bennett pointed toward a 1992 University of California at Los Angeles study showing women are making strides in the boardroom nationwide. Nine percent of executive vice presidents were women in 1992, up from 4 percent one year before. Twenty-three percent of senior vice presidents were women, up from 13 percent.

They worked the same amount of time -- 56 hours a week, on average -- but women earned about two-thirds the average of their male counterparts.

DelPonte began her journey to the boardroom 22 years ago as a dealer. When she expressed her interest in moving into a supervisor's role, her boss responded, "Honey, you don't want to do that."

But DelPonte persisted, though women casino supervisors were literally non-existent at the time.

Over her career, DelPonte has had to change companies several times to advance. Both times, her husband expressed concerns. Though leaving a secure job can be a gamble, it's one she encouraged women to make.

"You have to position yourself to get ahead," she said. "If where you're at cannot help you get ahead ... you have to make a decision to move to a company that will help you do that.

"You have to be willing to put it all on the line. You simply have to find the people who are going to help you get where you want to go."

Over her career, Bennett made even more drastic moves.

Early in her career, she worked a full 40-hour week in a marketing department, then spent an extra two shifts a week on the casino floor to learn the slots business.

To accept a job as vice president and general manager of the Edgewater Hotel and Casino in Laughlin, Bennett commuted on a mail plane that ran daily flights between Laughlin and Las Vegas. She left the job one year later to become chief operating officer of Casino Data Systems, a Las Vegas gaming equipment company.

Though her moves have been drastic, Bennett emphasized that women have to diversify their skills if they have any hope of becoming a high-level executive. Most women in executive level positions in gaming, she said, stick with departments like human resources, marketing or finance.

"Many women in the gaming industry often fail to rise to the levels where we'd like to be because they don't get the general experience you need to become a general manager," Bennett said. "You need to step out of your comfort level a bit to move forward.

"All studies show CEOs have direct managerial experience. Casino managers are the ones becoming GMs."

Another sacrifice women looking to advance in gaming will have to make is with their families. Though choosing between family and work is a choice both male and female executives face, it is a particularly difficult decision for women executives, because society views raising a family as a woman's role, Bennett said. Both Bennett and DelPonte have children.

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