This month, we mark International Women's Day (8 March), celebrating the achievements of women and marking a call to action for gender parity.
However, despite it being some 95 years since Australia’s first annual celebration of International Women’s Day was held in Sydney, gender inequality remains both across Australia and worldwide.
The Australian mortgage industry is no exception, and in fact the situation has worsened in recent years.
Only about a quarter (25.8 per cent) of Australia’s mortgage brokers are female, according to figures released by the Mortgage and Finance Association of Australia. This is down from 28.3 per cent in 2016.
Additional research commissioned by AFG demonstrates women brokers are feeling the pinch.
That survey showed 43.21 per cent of female respondents agreed or strongly agreed that there are systematic gender imbalances within the mortgage broking industry, compared to just 8.41 per cent of male respondents who felt the imbalance.
This imbalance exists despite there being many benefits to women from choosing mortgage broking as their career, including flexible working hours, the ability to be your own boss, and the personal satisfaction achieved by improving people’s lives through helping them buy their own home.
Driving business success
This article originally featured in The Adviser
