Women still lag in leadership positions in finance even though there are more women in the industry, a survey shows.
A survey of more than 1,300 Australian finance and accounting professionals specialist finance recruitment, Marks Sattin, found 76 per cent of respondents said less than half their organisation’s leadership teams were female.
Just six per cent of women surveyed were senior executives versus 12 per cent of men.
The survey also found 21 per cent of female respondents preferred male managers, saying they were “less emotional”, “less tempermental”, and “more rational” than women.
Only five per cent of women preferred a female manager, saying they were “more empathetic”, “more compassionate”, and had a better understanding of family needs, and a stronger team focus.
Meanwhile, women were twice as likely (14 per cent versus seven per cent of men) to be attracted and remain in a workplace that offered flexible work options, with flexible work/life balance and career development the top two reasons why women choose to remain in a role.
Marks Sattin and Experis general manager, Suzanne Gerrard, said the push for gender diversity should come from senior leaders and through a company’s culture of inclusion.
“Leaders must take accountability and look towards internal ‘change programs’ rather than relying on ‘quotas.’ Employers must raise awareness of unconscious bias in the hiring process and promote flexible workplace options to attract top female talent,” Gerrard said.
Gerrard called for a review of hiring procedures as well as including more females in the interview panel.
