Glass Ceiling For Women In Financial Services?
June 6, 2013 by Mason Braswell
The financial services industry has one of the hardest glass ceilings for women to break through according to a recent survey from Edward Jones.
Almost two-thirds, 65%, of men and women who responded felt that women in all careers faced more significant barriers to advancement, and one-in-five said that the financial services industry was the worst sector for women looking for leadership roles. Those results were not surprising, but they do highlight a relevant concern for many women entering the advisor space, Edward Jones’ director of financial advisor diversity and female performance, Elizabeth Schehl, said.
“I don’t think it was anything where we found some revolutionary results so to speak,” she said. “But what it did was really confirm a lot of the conversations that we’re having with women interested in pursuing a career in financial services, but they’re hesitant for fear of a glass ceiling.”
In the survey, which polled 1,010 men and women, 83% of those who said that women faced career barriers cited a male-dominated environment as the main impediment. The juggle of family and corporate responsibilities, inadequate policies for women in the workplace and a lack of adequate mentoring or a defined career path in reaching the executive board level were also cited.
Still, 49% of women surveyed reported that an entrepreneurial work environment was the most important job consideration beyond compensation and 67% of all respondents said women were the more ambitious of the sexes when it came to seeking out leadership positions.
