Women in Financial Services
Banking and Diversity
Tina.Freed / 01 Dec 2015
The current Government plans to keep their foot on the pedal when it comes to diversity and inclusion and is illustrated by their commitment to making further progress on gender and policies intended to enhance skills within the workforce generally.
Harriett Baldwin MP, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, recently observed that she strongly believes “in the moral value of allowing every person to fulfil their career aspirations, regardless of whether they are male or female” and that she thinks that this is “the landmark of a civilised Society” Thank goodness for that.
Certainly, more needs to be done to accelerate the pace of progress towards equal opportunity, for all talented people who work within the banking sector. Government-sponsored initiatives are only one means by which the pace can be quickened. Pressure needs to be applied to the banks to place some weight behind policies and initiatives intended to create more open and inclusive workplaces. It should be an integral part of the policy of industry leaders to improve culture within their organisations.
The BBA (British Bankers Association) is a leading trade association for the UK banking sector with 200 member banks, headquartered in over 50 countries, with operations in 180 jurisdictions worldwide. Eighty per cent of global systemically important banks are members of the BBA.
They are one of the largest and most comprehensive policy resources for banks on a global scale. Their network includes over 80 of the world’s leading financial and professional services organisations. Their members manage more than £7 trillion in UK banking assets, employ nearly half a million individuals nationally, contribute over £60 billion to the UK economy each year and lend over £150 billion to UK businesses. As the representative of the world’s largest international banking cluster, the BBA is the voice of UK banking.
Thankfully, Noreen Doyle, is the first female Chair of the BBA and the appointment itself represents a sign that some changes are taking place within the banking industry to reflect the diverse employee population of the UK banking and financial services sector in London.
Hopefully in the future, the younger generation will be able to see that the equal opportunity they experience in the classroom is translated into equal opportunity once they enter the workplace. Noreen Doyle has broken the glass ceiling and is now at the helm, leading the way to create more open and inclusive workplaces in the banking sector.
We at E2W look forward to hearing more from the BBA and Noreen Doyle about their policies for promoting gender diversity in the financial arena.
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