The situation of women in the finance industry of the US - Building Gender Balanced Business

• Over the course of the past 10 years, 141,000 women left the finance industry, a figure representing 2.6% of female workers in finance.

• Over the same period of time, 389,000 men joined the industry accounting for a 9.6% increase in the male workforce in finance according to the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.

• In the overall workforce, the numbers point to a different trend.

• The number of men in the labor market has grown by 0.5% while the number of women has increased by 4.1%,

• When it comes to women in finance, age appears to be a determining factor.

• Since the beginning of the new millennium, the number of women aged 20 to 24 working in finance has diminished by 315,000 or 16.5% while the number of men in that age range increased by 93,000 or 7.3%.

• The number of women over 55 working in finance is going in a different direction, increasing by 366,000 or 56% since 1999 as opposed to a 234,000 or 34% increase by their male counterparts of the same age.

• This increase in longevity does not necessarily translate into bigger promotions though.

• In the United States’ financial companies, women constituted a meager 16.8% of executive officers and only 2.5% of chief executives.

The Wall Street Journal