Breaking Down the Gender Paradox on Wall Street
By Michelle Hendelman
Americans are ready for a new style of leadership according to the latest report from Pershing, which was released in conjunction with International Women’s Day in March. 78 percent of the general public prefer leaders who “listen, consult and ask questions” compared to only 22 percent who enjoy the more traditional “command and control” type of leader. What’s even more telling is that the majority of those surveyed associated the preferred collaborative leadership style to women.
For the third year in a row, Pershing has delivered important research around women in financial services beginning with “Women Are Not a Niche Market,” which was followed by “The 30% Solution: Growing Your Business by Winning and Keeping Women Advisors.” These previous reports uncovered a significant imbalance between the female consumer market and the percentage of female financial advisors represented in the industry.
Now, in their latest report, “Americans Crave a New Kind of Leader – And Women Are Ready to Deliver,” Pershing is drawing attention to the implicit bias that is still driving leadership in financial services said Kim Dellarocca, Global Head of Segment Marketing and Practice Management for Pershing.
Catalyzing the Wall Street Effect
“As a society, we have done a pretty good job of eliminating explicit bias, but now we have to focus on the unconscious bias that could be affecting women’s career advancement,” said Dellarocca, “And one of the best ways to overcome this type of bias is through models.”
She indicated that one example of how models impact women in traditionally male work environments is seen through the “CSI Effect,” which creates a counter stereotype. For example, women now comprise 78 percent of forensic science students. This is largely attributed to the fact that television shows often depict women being successful in that particular career. “What we lack in our industry is a Wall Street Effect, where the pop culture depiction of Wall Street and the reality do not support a counter stereotype suggesting that women will thrive,” noted Dellarocca.
“Can we start a Wall Street Effect?” asked Dellarocca, by helping companies restate the value of diversity and inclusion and encouraging them to establish the models necessary to inspire women to pursue careers on Wall Street.
“We have done all of the right things to increase diversity on Wall Street, but we haven’t see the movement in the numbers that we would have hoped for by now,” acknowledged Dellarocca. “There is a lot of talk, and subsequently a lot of action, but we are not seeing a tick in the right direction.”
To that end, Dellarocca identified three ways in which we can catalyze the
Wall Street Effect.
Open Doors for Women
According to Dellarocca, one of the best ways to kick start the Wall Street Effect is to put women in the roles and give them the support to succeed. “Managers and leaders need to help high potential women bridge the gap between what they believe is possible for them and the opportunities available to them,” she remarked.
Women bring diversity to the table, and not just because of their gender, said Dellarocca. They provide a whole different perspective and can present an entirely new way to approach situations and develop solutions that goes way beyond gender. In essence, creating more diversity within the highest levels of an organization can contribute to breaking down groupthink and increasing investor trust going forward.
“Don’t hold back,” advised Dellarocca, who emphasized the fact that women may not envision themselves in a more senior role if they do not think they are 100 percent qualified. She stressed the value of challenging yourself to take on a position and have the confidence to know that you will grow into the role as long as you have the right amount of support around you. “Let your intentions and desires be known,” she said, “and be bold, because your male counterparts are likely being that bold too.”
Male Mentors are Key
Since male leaders outnumber women leaders on Wall Street, it is critical to get these men involved in mentoring upcoming female talent. Increasing the visibility around developing talent can encourage more men to reach out to junior women and take interest in their career advancement, according to Dellarocca.
She also noted that once men raise their hands to act as mentors for their firm’s female talent, it is important that they feel comfortable working with women by giving them serious feedback and helping them identify the blind spots that can prevent them from reaching the top. “Executive presence and the skills that you need as you start moving up become much harder to hone, but if women get feedback from a trusted mentor early on, they can begin to concentrate on developing their executive leadership skill set.”
Removing the language of tokenism is a key to celebrating the achievements of women on Wall Street. In order to do this, Dellarocca suggests celebrating not only the promotion of the woman, but also the male mentors and sponsors who played a critical role in their development. “We can reduce gaps in leadership and succession plans by making talent development as important doing our job well,” she added.
Check Our Biases at the Door
Based on Pershing’s research, a definitive gender paradox emerged whereby survey participants indicated on one question that they were comfortable with female leaders in a variety of occupations. However, on the very next question, when asked to pick between a male or female leader for specific occupations, the participants reverted back to traditional gender roles by indicating that they would feel more comfortable with men as engineers, Fortune 500 executives, financial advisors, lawyers, or the President of the United States.
Women, on the other hand, were chosen for roles such as nurse, physician, teacher, direct manager, or marriage and family therapist. Dellarocca defines this as the gender paradox which creates a very complex difference between someone’s perception of their own bias and the application of their bias when forced to choose between make and female leaders in reality.
This is where the importance of models and precedents can help break down this paradox, explained Dellarocca. “If people become accustomed to seeing more women take on historically male leadership roles, it will eventually be widely accepted and no one will think twice about it,” she noted.
