#IWD25 | We could’ve had it all, now we’re rolling in the deep says Simplify Consulting’s Giang Hughes

March 7, 2025

This International Women’s Day, we reflect on the progress made towards gender equity in financial services — and the hurdles that still remain. Inspired by Adele’s fearless honesty about balancing personal and professional success, Giang Hughes (pictured), Business Support at Simplify Consulting, explores the evolving landscape for women in leadership, the power of persistence, and why the journey towards true inclusion is one we must all keep chasing.

When Adele accepted her Sherry Lansing Leadership Award, she shared a candid speech on the challenges of being a ‘hit both on and off the stage’ after critics told her it was career suicide to take time off work to focus on being a mother. Many women understood the sentiment as we look to our own working experiences and how life events and experiences have impacted career progression.

As we celebrate this year’s International Women’s Day this weekend, we should be able to celebrate how far we have come to bring gender equity into balance in the workplace and into financial services. Whilst the Musk-Trump administration has signed an executive order dismantling and disrupting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies, many organisations have responded publicly defending their initiatives to protect gender, race, sexuality and other characteristics.

Nevertheless, the rest of the world is still moving forward albeit at a slow pace.

Someone Like You

It’s no surprise that women continue to be underrepresented in leadership positions across the globe in almost every industry and economy.¹ Women in boardrooms tripled from 9% in 2010 to 26% in 2023, although women in the UK financial services sector are significantly underrepresented – making up only 17% of senior roles¹.

Countless research and data show diverse workforces perform better and have a commercial advantage with women in the top jobs. Gender balanced teams foster diversity of thought, a deeper comprehension of consumers, improved goods and services, and increased customer satisfaction.

According to McKinsey, companies in the top quartile for gender diversity on executive teams are 25% more likely to have above average profitability than companies in the bottom quartile,² and a significant volume of female-managed hedge funds outperformed their male-led counterparts in a study by Goldman Sachs³.

Despite progress, women in financial services continue to face challenges and persistent barriers, whether it’s gender bias, unequal pay and promotion opportunities or lack of representation in senior management roles.

The forgotten middle is a problem – as women face the biggest hurdle at the first critical step to management. The gender disparity in early promotions sees men take 60% of manager level positions and women just 40%². This only leads to fewer women being promoted to director level.

Remedy

Many organisations are looking to upskill and promote within and there has been a shift in focus on retention with many firms introducing initiatives to remove progression barriers for women.

Commitment to promoting gender diversity and equality in the industry needs to be addressed through an inclusive workplace culture, tackling the challenges faced by women and providing equal opportunities for all.

HM Treasury Women in Finance Charter is making strong progress. It was put in place to improve gender balance in senior management and now has over 400 signatories representing 1.30 million employees across the financial services industry, with many already setting policies and initiatives to meet their self-imposed targets.

Here are some of the most common making a positive impact⁴:

Attracting women into the organisation – this includes diversity on longlists and shortlists, using strategic approaches to data to inform their inclusive recruitment approach and evolving returners programmes to encourage women back after career breaks.

Retention and promotion – career progression transparency and female leadership programmes have been introduced to develop female talent and develop upskilling programmes.

Behaviour and Culture – D&I training to embed behaviours that foster inclusion across organisations, focusing on leaders and people managers initially.

Chasing Pavements

It’s clear that diversity in leadership has become a core and critical business agenda item in financial services and we’re beginning to see a slow and steady uptick of female representation in senior management roles (now at 35%). If the pace continues, we could see this rise to an average of 50% in 2038 across some sectors – but not all⁴.

Our own whitepaper, ‘Change Starts with Bravery’,conducted in 2022, which analysed the barriers women have faced in the workplace, laying out a manifesto for change, is still as relevant now as ever.⁵ And while some of our manifesto areas are visibly garnering traction – Working Policies, Normalising Menopause, Mentoring and Recruitment – the remaining areas aren’t as clearly progressing.

But perhaps, with persistence, better education & career advice and new generations entering the workforce promoting Gender Neutrality and the rise of male allies, a change is in sight.

We’re currently seeing the strongest ever supply of experienced, ambitious and capable women in financial services and while it seems the road is long, it’s vital to keep chasing pavements.

References:

https://www.simplifyconsulting.co.uk/content/uploads/2024/12/Gender-Gap-White-Paper.pdf