Dear Fellow White Women in Finance: Hold That Door Open
Diversity improves our work and work environment.
Diversity improves our work and work environment.
With a headline like the one on this column, I realize I risk limiting my audience, especially in the male-dominated world of finance and money management.
I’m willing to take that risk. And in any event, the advice portion of this article is relevant to men, too.
To my fellow white woman readers, I’m sure you know what it feels like to be the “only” in the room. The only woman on a team, the only woman in a management meeting, the only woman on a committee, or the only woman at a client dinner.
Of course, not only do you know how hard it is to be the “only,” but you also know how hard it was to get into that room.
Unfortunately, once inside the room, an instinct can arise to keep your head down, be grateful to finally be accepted, and work inside the established structure.
But the status quo isn’t working--not for us, not for people of color, and especially not for women of color. So now that you’re inside, use that leverage to hold the door open and welcome others in.
Who Benefits From Diversity Efforts
Thanks to decades of national affirmative action programs and corporate diversity efforts, women have slowly increased in ranks in finance over the past few decades. While those gains are gratifying, we’re not yet close to gender parity. And let’s be honest: The benefits of corporate and industry diversity efforts have been reaped largely by white women, including me.
While white women, women of color, white men, and men of color now enter the financial-services workforce at rates approximately proportional to that of their representation in the broader U.S. population, white men make it to the C-suite at two and a half times that rate, while white women and men of color fall behind, and women of color are left with only crumbs. Doors don’t just open for white men, they push them up the corporate ladder.
I suspect that if we had the data by race, and not aggregated into a group of “women of color,” that the data about Black women would be even starker, and Indigenous women would likely not be represented at the C-level.
The thing is, in addition to the moral imperative to give everyone an equal opportunity to succeed, working with people who are different from us improves our work and increases both creativity and diligence. For our industry to truly be of service to everyone--including those of us who work in it--we need full representation of Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian, Middle Eastern, and other people of color, LGBTQ folks, people with disabilities, and people from other underrepresented groups.
Doing the Work
So, how can white women help to get more-proportional representation? Here are some effective tools for change.
--Hiring preferences for Ivy League university graduates. Thanks to the lack of diversity among students at many of these schools, this bias removes talent from your candidate pool. It also favors those people who did well on standardized school exams or sports and likely had enough family resources (and potentially connections) to attend an Ivy League school.
--Hiring friends and family. This is a big one for smaller RIAs. While there’s nothing wrong with a family business, it drastically reduces your talent pool. Hiring from your immediate network may lead to finding the right job for the candidate instead of hiring the right candidate for the job.
--Requiring years of experience in the field when on-the-job training is sufficient. At entry level, this requirement can narrow down applicants to those who have the financial or family resources to take unpaid internships. At more-senior levels, where a network and excellent communication skills are crucial, financial advice can be a rewarding and successful second career.
To retain top talent, thoughtful hiring must be paired with fostering an inclusive workplace where all employees feel like they can be themselves and belong.
But broadly, another way to hold the door open is by influencing other people to speak out. White men still have the overwhelming majority of power in our industry. Some of those men have publicly and privately indicated their understanding of systemic inequity issues and their desire to be allies. Encourage those men to walk their allyship talk. I find that many men want to help but aren’t sure how, so if you have the capacity to give them specific suggestions, do so.
Here’s what that can look like: “John and Monica started at our company at the same time, but I’ve noticed that John is given more opportunities to present at our meetings and mingle with you and our other VPs. Monica’s work is deserving of that same level of reward and opportunity. Can you help me ensure she’s treated equitably here?”
In fact, I recently had the opportunity to use this “influence” technique. I received an invitation to a virtual conference, where all six keynote speakers were white men, including some who I know to be allies. I reached out to the men I knew on the panel and said: “I know all of you are allies, so I'm reaching out to see if you would consider asking [conference organizer] to do better here? ... I'm not indicating you shouldn't have a seat at this table. Instead, I know that we must make more seats at the table, for women, people of color, and women of color especially. I will talk to the folks I know at [conference organizer]. I know it will be more meaningful if the message comes from each of you as well, since messages from men carry more authority (sigh) and because you are involved in the event.”
Hold the Door Open
So, white women: More of us have made it into the room. While it’s not our fault that financial services is overwhelmingly white and male, it is our collective responsibility to use our position in the room to hold the door open and invite in women of color, men of color, and other historically marginalized folks. Let’s make space for everyone to have access to this powerful and rewarding profession.
Sonya Dreizler is a speaker, author, and consultant focused on fostering candid conversations about gender and race in financial services. She is also a subject matter expert in ESG and responsible investing and is a former CEO of an independent BD/RIA. When she's not working, you can find her hanging out with her kids, lifting weights, enjoying the beauty of Northern California, and chairing the board at CUESA. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of Morningstar.
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