Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Finance: no time like now

Author Moonshot.news

Published on: 21/12/2021

The global pandemic has disproportionately impacted women in the workforce. To regain traction and improve gender diversity in financial services, now is the time for firm leaders to innovate and ramp up DEI strategies, write three women at consultancy Deloitte: Alison Rogish, Desiree D’Souza and Neda Shemluck, all of them based in the US.

They quote Neda Shemluck, US Financial Services Industry DEI leader at Deloitte saying that “the actions leaders take now can enable diverse talent to advance to the highest levels.”

“As we emerge from the pandemic, a fundamental shift is taking place in organizations around the world. We are moving toward a higher bottom line—where people are valued as much as profits, and the bottom line is no longer just a financial figure.”

”In many ways, financial services companies can be at the centre of this transformation. They have an opportunity to embrace a more human-centered form of capitalism, one that that can place gender equity within reach.”

The authors note that the proportion of women in leadership roles within financial services firms has modestly risen from 22% to 24% and is projected to grow to 28% by 2030. In 2019, that number was projected to be 31%.

“The gap further continues between women in senior leadership roles and in the C-suite, currently standing at 9% but likely to widen to 14% by 2030.”

They say that to address these issues of women’s participation and leadership roles in the financial services industry, 100 Women in Finance adopted a guiding principle called Vision 30/40: the goal for women to occupy 30% of senior investment roles and executive committee positions by 2040.

The vision in bullet points:

• We recognize the need for a long-term approach that aims to empower women leaders and support those at diverse points in the pipeline. This must be coupled with collaborations with partners and educational institutions to encourage young women to pursue careers in finance.
• We call upon our colleagues, namely institutional investors, to allocate funds to more diverse managers and to remind their managers of the role of diversity among their own staff.
• All financial market participants should look beyond single candidates and instead actively build teams of diverse members, recognizing that diverse organizations outperform their less diverse peers.

Key messages

• In 2021, the proportion of women in leadership roles within financial services firms is 24% and is projected to grow to 28% by 2030—still below parity.
• Within the representative financial services sample, for every woman added to the C-suite in an organization, three women rise to senior leadership roles. Known as the multiplier effect, this phenomenon is one of the most important reasons why financial services firms should bolster efforts to achieve gender equity.
• The gap between women in the C-suite and women in senior leadership roles is currently 9%. Financial services firms will need to take intentional, strategic actions in areas such as recruitment, retention, succession planning, and return-to-office work arrangements. If they don’t ramp up efforts now, this gap may widen to as much as 14% by 2030.
• Many financial services firms plan to use hybrid work models, which include more flexibility and remote work options, as a key component of their workplace strategies. Hybrid models can benefit employees, but leaders should thoughtfully and deliberately design them to advance—not deter—women’s career growth opportunities.
• Restart programs, which were growing in popularity before the pandemic, can become an even more powerful tool to attract and retain women now. Firms should consider expanding these programs to include senior leadership women who want to return to the workplace.