Changing roles: Banks understand the importance - and value - of having women in influential positions. But a tight labor market and old stereotypes are working against them

By Scott Anderson

Financial services industry leaders have long heard the statistics: When more women are involved in upper management, companies experience stronger financial performance and long-term success. So, it should be easy for banks to just hire and promote more women, right?

But it’s not that easy. In today’s tight labor market, it can be challenging for banks to compete with other industries like technology, healthcare and e-commerce in talent recruitment. On top of that, stereotypes of bankers reinforced through media portrayals don’t help either. 

At the American Bankers Association’s annual convention held in Chicago this past October, a surprising speaker was spotted behind the podium: Academy Award-winning actor Geena Davis. The founder of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, Davis was there to share her nonprofit’s recent research about film portrayals of women who work in banking in finance.

A far cry from 

“It’s a Wonderful Life”

Davis’ academic researchers analyzed fictional characters working in banking and finance from the top 100 films released from 2006 to 2016. Eight popular films from the past decade fit this criterion: “The Wolf of Wall Street,” “The Big Short,” “Margin Call,” “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps,” “Too Big to Fail,” “Arbitrage,” “Cosmopolis” and “Equity.”

What they found was a far cry from the heroic portrayal of George Bailey working at Bailey Brothers’ Building and Loan in “It’s a Wonderful Life.” In fact, all the films portrayed the industry in a negative light — with 12.5 percent portraying the industry as somewhat untrustworthy, and 87.5 percent as very untrustworthy. 

None of the films portray banking as an industry driven solely by merit. Seventy-five percent of the films show employees as benefitting from a combination of merit, cronyism and bending the rules. 

With regard to gender and diversity, women and people of color were vastly underrepresented, which gives viewers the impression that banking is an industry for white men. 

In terms of leadership and occupations, male characters were three times more likely to be shown in senior executive positions than female characters. And male characters were twice as likely to be shown as leaders and as more ambitious than female characters (46 percent compared to 22.5 percent).

Clearly, there is a tremendous amount of negative stereotyping and bias about the banking industry in entertainment media. And this presents a huge opportunity to disrupt all of the negative stereotyping and encourage more women and girls to pursue careers in banking.

Momentum is building 

for women’s advancement

 in banking 

Davis’ organization also surveyed a cross-section of female bankers across the country. There were 805 female respondents from 83 different banks and financial institutions of different sizes, with an average tenure of 17 years of experience. Respondents had many ideas about how they would like to see the banking industry presented in entertainment media. 

“I have little expectation that community banking can be meaningfully or successfully portrayed in TV or films,” one anonymous banker surveyed responded. “This is precisely because it is such an ordinary business with very little drama or intrigue. The stories that will get told about banking will always involve scandals and huge sums of money, none of which is really relevant to my experience of banking at the community neighborhood and city level.”

What is more relevant to women working in the industry is receiving support along their career paths. Researchers found that an impressive 57 percent of women respondents have a mentor in banking. It is notable that women of color and white women in banking are equally likely to have a mentor. Additionally, 40 percent reported having a sponsor who directly advocates for their career advancement.  These figures show we’re moving in the right direction and that momentum needs to continue. Banks can help by building formal programs into their long-range talent strategies.

“As a woman and a minority working in the banking industry, I think we’ve come a long way from what the banking culture used to be like,” commented another anonymous survey participant. “Women are no longer relegated to only secretary roles and more and more women are being appointed to the C-suite. I personally know several women in leadership positions who give me inspiration to reach higher.”

Locally, the Utah Bankers Association has hosted a Women in Banking conference for the past 11 years — one of the organization’s most popular annual events. More than 250 women representing all sizes of banks from across the state attend and learn about career development, leadership and management.

“We’re focused on supporting the next generation of bankers early in their careers so they’ll stay in an industry that has so many opportunities for them,” said Howard Headlee, president and CEO of the Utah Bankers Association. “We know that helping women build their leadership experience strengthens banking overall.”

A culture of inclusion 

can combat discrimination 

and harassment 

The Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media also asked women bankers whether they had ever faced gender discrimination in the industry. Unfortunately, 67 said they have experienced gender discrimination and 39 percent reported three or more incidents of such discrimination.  

One survey respondent described the gender discrimination she has observed working in the industry: “I have seen men with lesser qualifications get promoted ahead of their female counterparts. I have heard men in positions of power make comments to women, such as work-life balance/domestic life/child-raising comments, that they would not make to a man.”  

When asked whether they had ever experienced sexual harassment, a regrettable 40 percent of respondents said yes.

At a time of heightened awareness of sexual harassment in a variety of workplace environments, financial industry leaders can do more. They can reinforce training opportunities and policies for a harassment-free workplace. They can support those who report it.  Today’s groundswell of voices speaking against harassment reminds us there is an opportunity for more training on zero-tolerance policies. Beyond just diversity training, companies can do more to foster a culture of inclusion across an organization.

Pledging to help 

women advance

Under the direction of CEO Pat Jones, the Women’s Leadership Institute (www.wliut.com) is working to improve salary equity, board participation and political involvement among women in the state of Utah. To date, the Women’s Leadership Institute has rallied 161 companies (including several banks) to accept the ElevateHER challenge — a formal, public pledge to help women rise through the ranks.  

As more financial services companies make the commitment to increase the percentage of women in senior leadership positions while monitoring gender gaps in pay, the future for women in banking looks brighter.

Scott Anderson is the president and CEO of Zions Bank in Salt Lake City.