Member Article

Closing the gap for women in finance

Just like Meryl Street I proudly applauded Patricia Arquette’s Oscar speech when she asked for “wage equality once and for all and equal rights for women”. Her remarks which followed the leaked Sony emails about pay differences between the stars of the movie ‘American Hustle’, have highlighted that even in an industry filled with talented women – there still remains a blatant unfairness.

It is very easy to forget that there is still some way to go when it comes to equality for women. With more women entering university than men, girls consistently outperforming boys at GCSE level and schemes like shared parental leave coming into force – it seems as if there really is an equal playing field.

But as in Hollywood, there is still a significant pay gap between men and women in the UK, and as we approach International Women’s Day, I can’t help but feel it’s important we consider why this is still the case 45 years after the Equal Pay Act was passed.

As of April 2014 the ONS reported that the gap between male to female salaries was 9.4% in the UK. The reasons for this are well documented; more women in part-time work than men; impetus on childcare still predominantly in the hands of women; a discrepancy between the salaries of ‘traditional female’ roles like care or catering being paid less than ‘traditional male’ roles like construction or transportation; women three times more likely to take a career break (usually for their family) and of course, discrimination.

The discrepancy however, increases further when you look at the highest 10% earners where there has been a consistent gap of round the 20% for the past two decades, when the ONS started to record this data.

This is certainly something that I can see in the finance sector. It’s clear that when I attend networking events or training conferences, there are significantly less women in the room than there are men.

The fact is that 44% of full time accountants in the UK are women. And these women are having interesting and successful careers as accountants across a range of businesses whether that’s in-house like myself, or within practice, but what most aren’t doing is progressing into senior roles. Just 25% of partners in accountancy firms are women, and with seniority comes salary.

What is surprising about this is that actually, it is within senior roles that the traditional ‘female traits’ are actually an advantage. Soft skills like communication, teamwork and approachability are key aspects of the role of an Finance Director (FD). Forward planning, commerciality and a passion for your business areas are what hold the great FDs apart in my eyes. In truth I have seen numerous Financial Controllers throughout my career who are exceptional accountants, but they don’t have what it takes to excel as an FD as they just cannot master the soft skills that are so essential.

So what are the challenges that are specific to this sector? Ultimately I think this all comes down to confidence, and that can only be increased if more women take on senior positions. Role models and mentors are vital for businesses to instil confidence in junior employees that there is a career path for them and demonstrating that the boardroom isn’t out of reach. It is vital to prove that the women who do reach senior roles aren’t the exception, they have worked hard and been rewarded fairly, inline with their male counterparts.

I believe that it is crucial that successful accountants guide junior employees, to suggest areas for development and training, and to mentor promising individuals who aren’t the first to fight for a promotion, it might not be that they don’t want it – they just don’t believe that they can get it. If the boardroom is more accessible to everyone regardless of gender, this can only be fantastic news for businesses – why wouldn’t you want the very best talent leading your company in the future?

What do you think can be done to reduce the pay gap in the finance sector? Is training and mentoring key to ensuring this? Join the discussion and let me know your thoughts…

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Nives Feely .