Just 43 percent of fintech employees believe gender diversity helps drive performance. By comparison, private banking staff show most support.
Fintech employees place the lowest value on diversity in the workplace of all financial services workers, reveals research by Astbury Marsden, the leading recruitment firm.ts recent survey of staff working in the City of London revealed that under half (43 percent) of fintech employees believe gender balance at work impacts positively on an employer’s performance. By comparison, 53 percent of those working in investment banking said they believed that balanced numbers of men and women at work boosted an employer’s performance – while this was the case for 71 percent of private banking employees. The total number of financial services industry employees that believe gender diversity at work is an attribute is 52.5 percent. the low levels of support for gender diversity demonstrated by fintech employees is in part due to the fact that the sector continues to be largely dominated by men – with more than two-thirds (69 percent) of the boards of fintech companies made up of men only.
Technology companies as a whole also have a far lower percentage of female staff than the rest of the economy. Because fintech companies still tend to be very small, they often do not have the HR structures in place to help them address issues such as gender diversity – placing them at risk of missing out on leading talent. Bardia Sohi, Chief Operating Officer at Astbury Marsden says: “The argument is that decision making within fintechs will suffer if they do not have a diverse workforce. When a fintech company needs to fill a position – and this often needs to happen quickly – the overwhelming majority of candidates will be men. Certainly some fintech companies recognise that as they are asking us for an increasingly diverse slate when it comes to recruitment. With increasing numbers of schools and universities encouraging women into STEM subjects, the female talent pool in this area is going to be expanding considerably over the coming years. This should filter into the fintech sector and we should see the current gender imbalance redressed.”
Overall, 65 percent of City workers said gender balanced workforces were either ‘important’ or ‘very important’ to a firm’s appeal as an employer. Meanwhile 56 percent said they believed that having a gender-diverse workforce was either ‘important’ or ‘very important’ when it comes to problem-solving and 60 percent when it comes to driving innovation, specifically. Bardia Sohi, says: “It is really encouraging to see City employees increasingly recognise gender diverse workforces as a benefit, an attribute and a means to success. The lead being taken by staff at investment banks and those working in private banking pays credit to the fiercely meritocratic philosophies these institutions tend to adhere to – where top talent should be recognised regardless of sex, nationality or background. The findings go beyond this though – they show that employees are actually placing value in gender diversity, itself. This year’s figures show the increasing value being placed on the individual talents men and women each bring to the table. The idea that a well-balanced combination of the two is vital in order for a business to flourish has clearly caught on. This is demonstrated by the fact that the presence of both men and women in a workforce, for example, is being seen as instrumental when it comes to driving innovation and problem-solving. This is extremely positive.”
The survey asked City workers to rank how they felt gender diversity at work affected an employer’s potential in a number of areas from 1 to 5 – with 1 signifying ‘not important’ and 5 signifying ‘very important’. The categories included:
- Staff retention
- Employee motivation
- Attractiveness as an employer
- Corporate productivity
- Problem solving
- Driving innovation
