A change is brewing
19 Mar 2025
Following on from International Women’s Day on 8 March, it is time to start questioning why, for women in financial services, the numbers are still not adding up
Image: alrika/stock.adobe.com
“We knew there was a problem,” says Wincie Wong, co-founder of Tech She Can, when she saw how gendered thinking towards career pathways began in children barely old enough to go to school.
“If you think back to primary education, you know, the archetypes of what people do have already been introduced.”
Having set up a charity with the focus on promoting role models for young people, predominantly girls, in tech and finance, Wong recounts a moment where she had asked a young girl to draw an image of a ‘typical’ person in tech. “You cannot make this up,” she remembers, exasperated, “the girl literally drew a man in a brown suit with a pocket protractor and calculator in his hand.”
Her research at Tech She Can reveals a similar story. Around “75 per cent of teachers [across the UK] believe that gender balance, or gendered perceptions of careers, starts before the age of 11.” And these ideas of gender imbalance are not limited to just the education system. Children as young as two years old “recognise gender differences in characteristics and roles, and these quickly begin to shape children’s behaviour,” say Yvonne Skipper and Claire Fox, according to their research into young people’s gender perceptions. Creating adequate representation and suitable role models is therefore essential, Wong believes, when it comes to encouraging young women to begin their careers in the industry.
With research pointing to how important formative years are in creating gendered rules, Wong is positive that “with just one intervention, we can change young people’s perceptions about what possibilities are available to them.”
More than a tick box exercise
Across the pond, however, tides are turning on the state of inclusion in the workplace. With President Trump invoking a war on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives (memorably labelling them as “radical and wasteful”), seeing better representation does not bode well for women in the financial services industry.
“It is quite sad,” mulls Magdalena Krön, vice chair at the international advisory board for UCL school of management, “to see the current state of play.” A lot of fair inclusion initiatives she has come across are heavily reliant on DEI funding, which will now be at risk. “In a way,” she offers, “[this discussion about DEI] is good, because it’s actually starting a conversation of how do we create change that is sustainable?”
Wong weighs in: “We have some major global banks that are based in the US that are responding directly to this current president and cancelling their DEI programmes.” Her response to firms that are actively seeking to defund their equality initiatives is that “maybe they didn’t believe in them to start with.”
She continues: “Because I think firms who get it understand that DEI isn’t just about gender balance or just about social mobility. It was never a tick box exercise. It is about making sure that we open pathways to people who wouldn’t have had the chance otherwise.”
Krön agrees. “The problem,” she says, “starts from the bottom. We have to create initiatives. We have to create opportunities.” For her, the issue lies in not only promoting better inclusion while recruiting new talent but also making sure women are visible in positions of higher responsibility. With women making up over 50 per cent of the workforce in financial services, it is alarming, says Krön, that only 18 per cent make it to C-suite levels.
The question then, as Deola Habeeb, head of global tech operations at Vanguard, aptly puts it, is how are firms able to amplify women’s voices and “give them a platform where younger talents can see them and be inspired”?
The answer may lie in intention. “We have to be conscious of intention” and making intentional decisions in both recruitment and promotion practices, Krön concludes, where firms need to start asking themselves “how much they truly value diversity”.
Creating a conscious change
However, how this intention might look may differ from one firm and industry to another.
Within fintechs, intentionally hiring diverse representation lies at the heart of how the industry functions, believes Jackie Kingham, director of business transformation at Raisin. “We’re in the business of innovation. We’re trying to break the rules, and at the end of the day, to truly be innovative, you need to understand your customers, and your company needs to be representative of who your customers are,” she says.
“Beyond hiring,” Chatrine Åkerström, commercial product manager at ITRS, adds, “it is essential to expand recruitment channels.” Reliance on traditional networks and platforms is no longer enough to bring in talent from wide-reaching backgrounds. Rather, she believes “organisations need to proactively seek candidates from under-represented groups by partnering with initiatives” and ensure that “hiring panels adopt more inclusive evaluation methods.”
As Wong puts it bluntly, when it comes to recruitment practices, “you can’t expect to keep doing the same thing and having a different result.”
Invisible hurdles
Yet, women often still face structural, and largely invisible, barriers to not only entering but finding recognition within their roles. Whether it is taking on administrative tasks or the ‘mental load’ of organising, planning, and coordinating team members, Åkerström notes how this all contributes to a system where women may experience slower career progression.
“These responsibilities, while essential to a company’s success, are not always recognised or rewarded in ways that lead to promotions,” Åkerström explains. “As a result, many women find themselves contributing significantly without the same opportunities for advancement as their male peers.”
“Maybe there’s another barrier,” Habeeb continues, “that’s self-imposed as well.” Speaking broadly in terms of the confidence gap, self-doubt, and opting for silence rather than speaking up in spaces such as meetings, Habeeb believes this barrier simply acts as another hurdle women need to overcome in the industry. With this in mind, Åkerström offers a word of advice for women finding themselves in this position within their careers: “Take credit for your contributions, and do not wait for permission. Take the leap and put yourself forward for opportunities.”
Actions, not words
So what steps can the industry take to ensure better equality and gender inclusion in financial services? For Åkerström, it is about creating tangible actions, whether that is through policy change, mentorship programmes, or striving for equal pay and opportunities. “It’s about creating environments where women are not just present, but are leaders,” she emphasises.
Kingham agrees. “When you foster that culture of innovation, openness, and respectful challenge, that’s when real change will thrive.”
“If you think back to primary education, you know, the archetypes of what people do have already been introduced.”
Having set up a charity with the focus on promoting role models for young people, predominantly girls, in tech and finance, Wong recounts a moment where she had asked a young girl to draw an image of a ‘typical’ person in tech. “You cannot make this up,” she remembers, exasperated, “the girl literally drew a man in a brown suit with a pocket protractor and calculator in his hand.”
Her research at Tech She Can reveals a similar story. Around “75 per cent of teachers [across the UK] believe that gender balance, or gendered perceptions of careers, starts before the age of 11.” And these ideas of gender imbalance are not limited to just the education system. Children as young as two years old “recognise gender differences in characteristics and roles, and these quickly begin to shape children’s behaviour,” say Yvonne Skipper and Claire Fox, according to their research into young people’s gender perceptions. Creating adequate representation and suitable role models is therefore essential, Wong believes, when it comes to encouraging young women to begin their careers in the industry.
With research pointing to how important formative years are in creating gendered rules, Wong is positive that “with just one intervention, we can change young people’s perceptions about what possibilities are available to them.”
More than a tick box exercise
Across the pond, however, tides are turning on the state of inclusion in the workplace. With President Trump invoking a war on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives (memorably labelling them as “radical and wasteful”), seeing better representation does not bode well for women in the financial services industry.
“It is quite sad,” mulls Magdalena Krön, vice chair at the international advisory board for UCL school of management, “to see the current state of play.” A lot of fair inclusion initiatives she has come across are heavily reliant on DEI funding, which will now be at risk. “In a way,” she offers, “[this discussion about DEI] is good, because it’s actually starting a conversation of how do we create change that is sustainable?”
Wong weighs in: “We have some major global banks that are based in the US that are responding directly to this current president and cancelling their DEI programmes.” Her response to firms that are actively seeking to defund their equality initiatives is that “maybe they didn’t believe in them to start with.”
She continues: “Because I think firms who get it understand that DEI isn’t just about gender balance or just about social mobility. It was never a tick box exercise. It is about making sure that we open pathways to people who wouldn’t have had the chance otherwise.”
Krön agrees. “The problem,” she says, “starts from the bottom. We have to create initiatives. We have to create opportunities.” For her, the issue lies in not only promoting better inclusion while recruiting new talent but also making sure women are visible in positions of higher responsibility. With women making up over 50 per cent of the workforce in financial services, it is alarming, says Krön, that only 18 per cent make it to C-suite levels.
The question then, as Deola Habeeb, head of global tech operations at Vanguard, aptly puts it, is how are firms able to amplify women’s voices and “give them a platform where younger talents can see them and be inspired”?
The answer may lie in intention. “We have to be conscious of intention” and making intentional decisions in both recruitment and promotion practices, Krön concludes, where firms need to start asking themselves “how much they truly value diversity”.
Creating a conscious change
However, how this intention might look may differ from one firm and industry to another.
Within fintechs, intentionally hiring diverse representation lies at the heart of how the industry functions, believes Jackie Kingham, director of business transformation at Raisin. “We’re in the business of innovation. We’re trying to break the rules, and at the end of the day, to truly be innovative, you need to understand your customers, and your company needs to be representative of who your customers are,” she says.
“Beyond hiring,” Chatrine Åkerström, commercial product manager at ITRS, adds, “it is essential to expand recruitment channels.” Reliance on traditional networks and platforms is no longer enough to bring in talent from wide-reaching backgrounds. Rather, she believes “organisations need to proactively seek candidates from under-represented groups by partnering with initiatives” and ensure that “hiring panels adopt more inclusive evaluation methods.”
As Wong puts it bluntly, when it comes to recruitment practices, “you can’t expect to keep doing the same thing and having a different result.”
Invisible hurdles
Yet, women often still face structural, and largely invisible, barriers to not only entering but finding recognition within their roles. Whether it is taking on administrative tasks or the ‘mental load’ of organising, planning, and coordinating team members, Åkerström notes how this all contributes to a system where women may experience slower career progression.
“These responsibilities, while essential to a company’s success, are not always recognised or rewarded in ways that lead to promotions,” Åkerström explains. “As a result, many women find themselves contributing significantly without the same opportunities for advancement as their male peers.”
“Maybe there’s another barrier,” Habeeb continues, “that’s self-imposed as well.” Speaking broadly in terms of the confidence gap, self-doubt, and opting for silence rather than speaking up in spaces such as meetings, Habeeb believes this barrier simply acts as another hurdle women need to overcome in the industry. With this in mind, Åkerström offers a word of advice for women finding themselves in this position within their careers: “Take credit for your contributions, and do not wait for permission. Take the leap and put yourself forward for opportunities.”
Actions, not words
So what steps can the industry take to ensure better equality and gender inclusion in financial services? For Åkerström, it is about creating tangible actions, whether that is through policy change, mentorship programmes, or striving for equal pay and opportunities. “It’s about creating environments where women are not just present, but are leaders,” she emphasises.
Kingham agrees. “When you foster that culture of innovation, openness, and respectful challenge, that’s when real change will thrive.”
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