Sexism and the city: MPs launch equality inquiry amid fears financial services are still too male-dominated
MPs have launched an inquiry into sexism in the financial services industry amid fears the city will remain a male-dominated workplace.
The Treasury Committee, which issued a report five years ago criticizing the “alpha male” culture in finance, is examining whether progress has been made since then.
The latest investigation comes amid a string of sexual misconduct allegations against hedge fund magnate Crispin Odey and senior members of the CBI.
Commission chair and Conservative MP Harriett Baldwin said: ‘We would like to know whether women feel more supported in financial services than they did at the time of the commission’s last survey five years ago.
“We will explore whether enough work has been done to build more supportive cultures in the workplace, how to address harassment and misogyny, and what role government and regulators should play in role modeling behavior.”
Investigating sexism: The select committee of the Treasury Department, which criticized the ‘alpha male’ culture in finance in a report five years ago, will examine whether progress has been made since then
Four years ago, the government required organizations with more than 250 employees to publish an annual pay gap report.
Since then, financial services has emerged as the industry with the largest gender pay gap in the country, at 26.6 percent compared to the national average of 12.1 percent.
Laura Whitcombe, global campaign leader for the 30% Club, which campaigns for gender diversity on boards of directors, said: ‘Looking at all industries, financial services has lagged behind many others on gender equality, although progress is being made , albeit slowly.
“We have gone from 12 per cent female board members in the FTSE 100 in 2010 to just over 40 per cent now. Yet only ten female chief executives currently feature in the FTSE 100.”
She added: “Research by McKinsey and Lean In points to a leaky pipeline of female talent in organizations, including a broken step at the first step from entry level to manager, where women are significantly less likely than men to be promoted.”
Whitcome continued: “Women reported feeling burnt out more often than men.
“We have seen long working hours and elements of the traditional male work environment, such as a lack of flexibility, persist in some financial services firms, which partly explains the relatively large gender pay gap and the low representation of women in senior positions.”
Among the most high-profile female chief executives in the FTSE 100 are Amanda Blanc at Aviva and Alison Rose at NatWest, as well as Emma Walmsley at GSK and Liv Garfield at Severn Trent.