An executive at the Institute of Public Accountants has suggested that a discussion around the need for gender quotas in financial services may now be warranted.
Ahead of the Women in Finance Summit 2024, group executive, advocacy and professional standards at the industry body, Vicki Stylianou, said that while the Australian financial services industry is making progress around female representation, there is opportunity for improvement.
For example, in its 2023 Diversity Survey of 16 of its global and domestic fund manager members, the Financial Services Council (FSC) found that the representation of women in investment teams averaged 29 per cent, up slightly from 25 per cent in 2021 and 27 per cent in 2022.
The organisation-wide representation stood at above 37 per cent, according to the survey.
As such, Stylianou highlighted the need for deeper conversations around quotas, with considerations about whether or not they are appropriate, what form they would take, in which part of the industry they would be implemented, and how long they should remain in place.
“Maybe the time has come to have this conversation in the financial services industry because this topic has been around in lots of countries for a long time,” she said.
Her comments preceded her panel session at the summit, where she will provide leadership insights for women in finance, including how to overcome gender biases in leadership roles while seizing opportunities in male-dominated industries.
Data from the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) in February this year revealed a bleaker picture of the gender pay gap, with financial and insurance services among the worst offenders.
Indeed, the industry had a median total remuneration gap of 26.1 per cent, the second-largest gap among all the industries included in the report.
According to government projections released last year, it will take another 26 years to close Australia’s national gender pay.
The issue of quotas is complex and requires the industry to consider multiple factors, Stylianou said.
“Quotas are a double-edged sword. I don’t particularly like them because I think it could encourage tokenism. But it’s going to take too long to increase female representation and close the gender pay gap without them,” she said.
The industry needs to articulate its goals around female representation in financial services, investment management, boards, and at executive levels before determining if quotas are the right tool to boost participation, she said.
“Some people might argue that the current level of representation is appropriate and that it’s going to be hard to meet quotas if you don’t get more women into the sector,” Stylianou said.
“The other issue is, how much longer are we prepared to wait to close the gender gap before introducing mandatory quotas? How long is this going to take? What’s a reasonable level? Once you start dissecting and drilling down on the holistic figures, what’s appropriate and what can we expect?”
If the financial and insurance industries mandate quotas, organisations would be required to be transparent about why a candidate was chosen for a role and held accountable to avoid pitfalls like being perceived as practising tokenism, Stylianou said.
“This is also about career progression,” she said.
“If someone gets plucked out of the blue, it may raise questions. But if it’s clear that someone’s being developed for a particular role or there’s a pool of people that has capabilities, then it becomes more obvious and wouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone.
“There has to be accountability for that. Transparency and accountability have to be embedded in the culture of an organisation.”
In addition, Stylianou encouraged women to be “bold and persistent” and pursue different types of roles in their organisation.
“Women are often hesitant to put themselves forward but they’re probably more qualified for a position than they think they are,” Stylianou said.
“It’s good to put your hand up and make it known that you’re a part of the pool for consideration.”
She also pushed women to ask their organisations about their diversity policies and practices and their success rate in achieving their diversity goals.
Stylianou said: “This is all a part of the transparency and accountability. Asking questions on an ongoing basis raises awareness.”
To gain more leadership insights from Vicki Stylianou and learn how to encourage more women to join the financial services industry, come along to the Women in Finance Summit 2024.
It will be held on Friday, 15 November at Hyatt Regency, Sydney.
Click here to buy tickets and don’t miss out!
For more information, including agenda and speakers, click here.
This summit is produced by Captivate Events. If you need help planning your next event, email director Jim Hall at [email protected]
This article originally appeared on The Adviser.
