Insurance sector lags on female executive diversity
A gender diverse insurance industry is something to strive for, but lack of initiatives and comprehensive statistics on the representation of women across financial services are increasing the difficulty of achieving equality within the industry, according to Hall & Wilcox special counsel and Association for Women in Insurance NSW president, Ahranee Vijayaseelan.
Association for Women in Insurance NSW president, Ahranee Vijayaseelan said female participation in financial services including insurance sat at 55 per cent, with male participation at 45 per cent nationwide. The finance sector had the largest pay gap at 33.5 per cent, despite a female-heavy employment base.
“While women may outnumber men in the financial services and insurance sector, it’s also worth noting nearly 15 per cent of women are employed part-time, compared with male part-timers who account for less than 4 per cent,” Vijayaseelan said.
“This reflects fewer women in senior management positions, which attract higher salaries and bonuses.”
Of particular concern within the industry is lack of diversity in executive positions across insurance, which Vijayaseelan said was justified against Credit Suisse statistics which showed women occupy 12 per cent of top management positions in insurance.
“A mere one per cent of insurance firms have a female CEO [and] this reflects trends in Australia generally – for example, ASX 200 companies with a female CEO number of just five per cent,” she said.
Vijayaseelan also highlighted a lack of willingness within the industry to adopt targets or quotas for female representation which he said had contributed to the lack of diversity as it limited incentive.
“Australia has been reluctant to employ targets and quotas – perhaps it’s time for a change of heart – perhaps the industry will be pleasantly surprised that there is genuine talent that is unearthed through this approach,” she said.
“It will certainly assist candidates to be more confident in putting themselves forward.”
Vijayaseelan said initiatives such as the 2017 Insurance Industry Diversity Survey continued to shed light on the issue and confirmed the gender make-up within the industry was a discussion that needed more stamina.
“It’s important to keep the discussion going and to look for making positive changes in small ways,” she said.
“There is no one easy solution to gender diversity."
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