Financial services industry ‘slow’ in promoting females
The second global Women in Financial Services report finds slow progress for women leaders in financial services.
The second global Women in Financial Services report finds slow progress for women leaders in financial services.
Globally only one in five boardroom positions and 16% of executive committees in financial services are comprised of women, according to the Women in Financial Services report by global management consultancy Oliver Wyman. This represents only a slight improvement in both categories since the report’s previous edition, published in 2014.
The new edition includes an analysis of 381 financial services organizations in 32 countries, a survey of 850 financial services professionals worldwide and interviews of more than 100 senior female and male leaders.
The firm calculates that at current progress it will take a further 32 years – to 2048 – for executive committees in the financial services industry globally to reach 30% female representation; the level at which research suggests a minority’s voice comes to be heard in its own right.
Currently, women have the highest representation on executive committees in Norway and Sweden, with Japan and South Korea needing the greatest improvement.
“The industry is far from where it should be on gender balance,” said Ted Moynihan, managing partner of financial services, Oliver Wyman. “We hope that this second report will advance the discussion – delving deeper into it, raising awareness and supporting much needed change in the industry.
“The low representation of women on executive committees in particular is a problem. An organization’s key business and strategic decisions are made by its executive committee and they are also highly visible, both internally and externally, making them effective as role models and sponsors – and driving business success.”
The report also finds that female executives in financial services are 20-30% more likely to leave their employer than their peers in other industries. Data and responses suggest that many women face a mid-career conflict and a less attractive ‘career trade off’ than men – with insufficient flexible working hours and support for family responsibilities, persistent views of shortcoming regarding promotion and equal pay, and unconscious bias.
“Diversity must be seen as a commercial imperative rather than just as part of corporate social responsibility or fairness in the workplace,” said Astrid Jaekel, partner and author of the report.
“Gender balance provides access to the full talent pool, better decision making by bringing together different perspectives, better services to customers by better representing them, and a stronger economy. Organisations need to advance women by offering bolder structural solutions to the mid-career conflict outlined in this report, creating the right working arrangements and fostering more profound cultural change.”