This experience may also be felt by many women in the financial services sector. There remains a persistent ‘boys club’ culture in this industry and the barrier it poses to women's progress is being worsened by recent backlash against diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies. Many companies that were previously vocal in their support of gender equality and pledged to improve representation in their workforces have begun withdrawing support for these initiatives – a phenomenon that is most noticeable in the US but has been steadily spreading to the UK.
What might seem like mere rhetoric is having a real impact on women’s working lives. Recent research by The Pipeline found that 2 in 5 (40%) women say that recent developments in diversity and equity policies have made them feel less safe and comfortable at work. Following the Conservative party’s promise this November that they would prevent the FCA and PRA rolling out new DEI measures and roll back existing measures for banks and insurers, the financial services sector is at even greater risk of undoing essential progress towards gender equality.
This, and other measures we’ve seen this year to row back on DEI measures, may be a reflection of the mounting public perception that ‘things have gone far enough’ when it comes to equal rights for women, an opinion a shocking 47% of Britons hold. However, closer scrutiny of the financial services sector reveals this could not be further from the truth and businesses still need to be doing more to unlock the power – and profit – of female talent in their workforce.
State of play
The balance of representation in the financial services sector is especially poor at the senior management level. This year, the British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (BVCA), found that only 13% of senior private equity roles are held by women. Meanwhile, in the accountancy sector, despite women making up 44% of chartered accountants, just 24% of partners in the top 100 firms are women.
Ensuring women are equally represented on these executive committees is vitally important because these are the decision-making roles that have the widest influence on the rest of the sector. Without women in these highly visible positions, there is also no
example for women lower down the career ladder to aspire to, reinforcing the impression that financial services is a male-dominated environment and likely to remain so.
Alongside ensuring successful women are well-represented in senior roles, firms also have a responsibility to advocate for their female talent at all other levels, ensuring that they feel supported in an increasingly hostile political culture. Creating a positive workplace environment, where toxic practices have been rooted out and the leadership holds itself accountable for DEI initiatives, will help provide all employees with equal opportunities, support, and guidance.
After all, supporting gender parity across the board in a business pays off and can even benefit the bottom line: in fact, the World Bank has stated that equality for women in employment could improve global GDP by 20%. And while promoting gender parity can help with employee retention, research also shows that companies with more than 30% female executives outperform those with a lower gender balance, providing a material motivation for both public bodies and city leaders to not abandon their DEI practices.
Actionable change
For the sector to see real change, senior leadership must take active responsibility to ensure gender parity is achieved at executive level, and all female employees see and feel the benefits of company initiatives. DEI needs to be treated as a core business priority as opposed to a trend to be adopted and then put aside when it is no longer fashionable.
There also needs to be a change in workplace culture, with a thorough review of existing outdated promotion pathways and leadership selection criteria to ensure they are free of bias. Putting in place leadership development programs to sponsor female talent is another way to ensure there are fewer barriers to women achieving executive roles.
Progress must also be measurable to ensure accountability. Companies ought to prioritise tracking gender parity at all levels and can link executive bonuses and performance reviews to diversity goals. Although these overhauls might seem intensive, embedding DEI into corporate strategy will have long-term results, for employee engagement, business performance, and brand reputation.
Women need to be better represented in key decision-making roles in the financial services sector, but without a concerted effort to remove the barriers to their leadership progression, this won’t occur. Now more than ever, sector leaders must commit to advancing gender equality, both as an ethical and a business imperative.
