On an International Women’s Day webinar, the Financial Planning Association (FPA) discussed career progression and what held women back from reaching senior positions.
Sarah Abood, who recently took up the position of chief executive of the FPA, said women often were reluctant to apply for roles if they did not meet all the specification.
“[Women worry] that they shouldn’t go for a role until they’d already demonstrated they could do it. It’s kind of ridiculous when you think about it because I don’t know any men who think that way. They think they can do half the role, that’s no problem and they will pick up the other half along the way.”
Earlier this week, data from the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors found women made up 9.5% of board chair roles and 6.5% of chief executive roles across the ASX 200.
While gender diversity stats were unavailable for financial planners, the organisation noted at a recent conference, there had been five women out of 75 people while another had 200 people and only 10 women.
Abood reflected on these fears in her own experience prior to attaining the CEO role, saying she needed external encouragement to take on the role, particularly given its public face.
“[The CEO role] is a public role and there was definitely some fear there about whether I was capable, and would it be a public failure and that was scary. I did talk to a lot of people and needed some encouragement and I think that’s something people do generally but women in particular, they often wait to be asked or wait for some kind of evidence or approval before they take on bigger opportunities.”
She said managers needed to ensure they communicated with their team, particularly with the rise of remote working, as female staff may not speak up if they had concerns or problems.
“More often than not, women won’t speak up. They won’t demand the pay rise or change or be vocal about what they think should be different.
“Every role I’ve had in the leadership space, male team members are far more likely to tell you what they want and you don’t even have to ask whereas with your female team members, you have to draw it out.”
