Progress Together Board Member Nadia Minors shares her thoughts on the theme of #EmbraceEquity on International Women’s Day 2023.
International Women’s Day (IWD) has always been an important way to celebrate and reflect on the achievements of women in all spheres of life, whilst simultaneously recognising all the work that still needs to be done to accelerate gender equality.
This year’s IWD campaign theme, #EmbraceEquity (shortened from Cracking the Code: Innovation for a Gender Equal Future) is significant, as equity, can often be overlooked when we discuss or explore issues of womanhood and/or Diversity & Inclusion. The challenges which can affect and disadvantage women are further complicated by factors such as ethnicity, culture, and socio-economic status, at the intersection of which every woman exists. Therefore, any disadvantage she may experience cannot necessarily be attributed to any single dimension of her identity. Negotiating and identifying areas for improvement is an important part of #EmbracingEquity.
I work within the UK’s financial services sector; and have been pleased to see the progress of female representation at senior management levels (i.e., Director and above); but it is disappointing that this representation appears to be primarily reserved for white women and does not extend to other marginalised groups; including black women from lower socio-economic backgrounds who make up only 1% of senior leaders.
Insidious
Research commissioned by the City of London Corporation and authored by The Bridge Group in 2020 on socio-economic background and career progression in financial services highlights that 52% of UK CEOs come from professional backgrounds, which increases to 89% in the financial services sector. Furthermore, employees from non-professional backgrounds take 25% longer to progress, with no link to performance. That number rises to 32% for employees who are black or from lower socio-economic backgrounds. It’s difficult to clearly ascribe this under-representation to a single factor which, of course, links to the notion of intersectionality mentioned earlier. This is what makes it so insidious.
I have observed, for example, exceptionally smart, capable, ambitious women being subjected to unwritten rules that bar them from progressing. They are told they need to do “more” or aren’t quite “ready” to realise a promotion but the “more” or “ready” are never defined and continuously evolve in terms of expectations.
The tallest poppy
Likewise, there is a multiplicity of women who receive outstanding year-end feedback and performance ratings, demonstrating their aptitude to contribute above their grade. But mysteriously, this is never translated into promotion opportunities. When women are successful, they are often cut down to size. This phenomenon, frequently referred to as Tall Poppy Syndrome (TPS), was raised in The Tallest Poppy Research Project led by Women of Influence+ report in 2023 and describes “flowers that grow higher than others and are cut down to size so that they are the same height as the flowers around them”. This is particularly treacherous for black and other minority women as, in general, they are not starting from the same benchmark as others around them, leaving them further disadvantaged by their ambition.
The #EmbraceEquity campaign is a call for action. It asks all of us, including men, to take a multi-dimensional approach when looking at ways to dismantle processes and systems that exclude particular groups of people. This acknowledges that it may be necessary to provide specific resources and opportunities to level the playing field in the working environment. Those opportunities might include anything from access to leadership and talent programmes, sponsorship, high profile assignments and projects, and transparent hiring and promotion processes. This is even more important when one considers the pace of technological innovation and development, for example, the introduction of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT, because if these are not developed with diverse audiences and users in mind, we shall continue to perpetuate dominant cultures’ inherent implicit bias.
Economic imperative
The UK finance sector represents 8.3% of the UK’s economic output and contributes £174billion to the UK economy, therefore equity for all women is a social and economic imperative. It is equally essential that the financial sector remains a competitive choice for talent, which will in turn drive productivity, growth, and fair consumer outcomes.
As a Board member of Progress Together, the first membership body focusing on progression, retention, and socio-economic diversity at senior levels across UK financial services, I am committed to supporting the financial services sector in its path to equity and equality.
I will actively #EmbraceEquity throughout the year and beyond. I hope that we all shall: and look forward to seeing the results.
