By committing to the Charter, businesses promise to assist the advancement of women into senior positions in the financial services industry by establishing goals to increase diversity and disclosing their progress in public.
The government’s desire to improve gender equality at all levels throughout financial services enterprises is reflected in the Charter, which was established in 2016.
The government did this in awareness that having a balanced workforce benefits businesses, consumers, and investors.
According to the annual review released today (June 23), 78 percent of businesses are already meeting or are on track to meet their goals for having more women in the boardroom.
This is an increase of 5% from the previous year. Additionally, nearly half of businesses have made a commitment to having 40% of their boardrooms comprised of women.
John Glen, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, stated that gender equality and diverse representation in the financial services industry benefit investors, businesses, and entrepreneurs by lowering barriers to growth.
I applaud the progress made this year, but declaring goals is only one step in the process. Today, I’m urging businesses to step up their efforts to further promote gender equality in the workplace.
Amanda Blanc, a champion for women in finance, expressed her worries about the stagnation of progress. Frankly, there hasn’t been enough fundamental change so far—been there’s too much fiddling around the edges.
There is no doubt that big change in this area is difficult, but it’s important that we do it well.
With more challenging goals being set and achieved, there are some glimmerings of hope. We must, however, work more diligently and quickly for the benefit of women, businesses, and society.
When compared to 2022, the average percentage of women in senior management within the sector stayed the same at 33 percent in 2021. The number of women in top management increased or stayed the same for two-thirds of signatories.
While there has been progress, more has to be done to guarantee that women are more frequently represented in prominent positions in the financial services industry.
The government will keep working with business to make significant progress toward building a financial services sector that leads the world in innovation, diversity, and lowering obstacles to growth and entrepreneurship now that the Charter is in its sixth year.