Women in finance – has anything really changed

By Sarah Touzani (pictured), COO at Creditspring

Sarah Touzani has been Chief Operating Officer of Creditspring, a subscription loan provider, since 2019 and was previously Head of Operations. Before that, she spent eight years in consulting and banking operational roles including at HSBC, Actuaris, and BNP Paribas focusing on compliance, operations, and risk management.

Financial services remains heavily a male-dominated industry, especially at the highest levels.

Across the sector, women are paid 30% less than men, which is over double the average UK salary gap of 14%. It would, perhaps, be a straightforward issue to fix if there was just one factor to explain this discrepancy. Unfortunately, this imbalance is the result of many, deeply ingrained issues that have been at play for decades – from bias within education, bias within the workplace and bias within society. No wonder the message of International Women’s Day was #BreakTheBias.

Being a woman in finance

After twelve years working in the finance sector, many of the challenges we often hear about when it comes to women in the industry are familiar to me. Prior to my current role as Chief Operating Officer at Creditspring, I worked in the fields of consulting and banking, leading operational teams at some of the largest financial services organisations in the world. As a young woman of colour coming into a consulting role – especially in a sector that remains predominantly older, male and white – there were, of course, challenges. I had to immediately demonstrate my leadership abilities and quickly develop effective strategies to manage any resistance. Ultimately, I had to trust myself if I were to have the best chance of success.

I was Creditspring’s first operational hire, tasked with recruiting an effective and successful team to meet our ambitious business goals. Four years later, I look at the diverse and talented team we’ve built with enormous pride. 43% of the Creditspring team is female, including 40% of our senior leadership at C-suite level. Diversity is vital to our business strategy; after all, how can we truly know the needs and challenges of our diverse customer base if our team is not reflective of the society we live in? Having a range of genders, ages, ethnicities, faiths, and beliefs in our team gives us a greater understanding of our customer base and helps us to make business decisions with them specifically in mind.

Fostering diversity across the industry

Although many might assume the gender gap is closing, figures suggest it’s actually getting worse. A recent report from McKinsey shows that women have been promoted to managerial positions at a far lower rate than men since 2016. If this trend doesn’t reverse soon, how can companies diversify? And, from a cynical point of view, how can they hit the diversity targets they set themselves?

The effect is likely to be even worse for some women too. Despite some progress, bias continues to exist, and a wide combination of factors ensure that women of colour continue to be both under-represented and under-hired throughout their careers. Representation declines the further up the career ladder you go – this is the case for all women, but it’s even more shocking for women of colour, where representation collapse by over 75% between entry level roles and C-suite leadership positions.

It’s hugely concerning that there has been no improvement over the last three years and seeing women of colour in senior roles is still far too rare. This has a trickle-down effect on women earlier in their careers – without these senior figures to smash the glass ceiling, it’s harder for the next generation to be fully aware of the opportunities and career paths available to them. Of course, this means that these women are missing out on opportunities for career progression, but it also means that organisations are losing out on talented individuals who could contribute hugely to their business, as well as driving innovation and progress in the sector.

As a value-driven fintech, we want to contribute to the journey to support and boost diversity across the financial and fintech industries more broadly. This is certainly a goal that is close to my heart. In order to achieve this, I believe it is vital that people see individuals they can identify with and be inspired by, in key, senior positions. This is one of the major aspects that attracted me to my role at Creditspring initially – the opportunity to help develop a more inclusive company that people want to work for and with, as well as hopefully look up to!

Sounding the bell for change

Overhauling age-old industry practices to finally achieve real diversity should not just be an admirable aim or a pithy soundbite. It is achievable and must be a priority for every organisation, whether it be a large corporate or fledgling start-up. Gender Equality Month, which is March 2022, presents us with a moment to reflect. While we should undoubtedly celebrate how far we have already come in creating more gender balanced workplaces, we must also work hard to ensure we continue to make progress, especially in industries like financial services where women remain underrepresented.