Fearless Girls and the Board Seat

This month’s cover-story profile is on US Bank chief operational risk officer Jodi Richard, who cites her mother as a role model. Her mother knew of her interest in banking and finance and guided her to a career in the industry. Richard acknowledges that the opportunity she got was unique.

Richard’s background is different from most in that she got her start as a regulator. But it also can’t be overlooked that she’s a female in a male-dominated industry.

According to consultancy Oliver Wyman’s recent report, Women in Financial Services 2016, women make up 20 percent of board positions and 16 percent of executive committee roles. Oliver Wyman analyzed 381 financial services company disclosures in 32 countries across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and the Americas. The same report estimates that only 15 percent of chief risk officers in the countries surveyed are women. In the banking sector, that number shrinks to 10 percent. And technology is similarly behind. The National Center for Women and Information Technology estimates that women make up 20 percent of chief information officers in Fortune 100 companies.

As a woman, it’s something I’ve certainly noticed in my year covering financial technology: Very rarely do I ever get to write “she” in my stories. Actually, it’s always been rare to use that pronoun in most pieces I’ve written throughout my career, fintech or otherwise.

Fearless Girl

During International Women’s Day, State Street Global Advisers took a stance on the diversity issue when it commissioned “Fearless Girl,” a statue of a girl defiantly confronting the iconic “Charging Bull” sculpture in Manhattan’s Financial District. A few Incisive Media colleagues and I paid a visit to the girl during a lunchbreak and took photos of the statue. This was before a quick search on the SSGA site showed that firm, itself, needs to increase the number of higher-ranking women executives within the organization. I take it to mean, though, that SSGA—even while calling on its peers and competitors to diversify its upper echelons—recognizes that it is lacking in women leaders, as well.

Richard and other women in finance are doing their best to encourage more women to not just attempt to get positions in management, but also to enter the industry. Richard says she grew up with her mother’s work ethic etched into her. And it is this work ethic that she hopes women in her organization will see and learn from. She is actively working with women at US Bank as a mentor. She says she hopes people will see that the real secret to getting to the C-level is hard work. Having a network of support, where women mentor—who don’t just give tips, but actually guide other women in the firm—is similarly important. It’s about having a support system, a shoulder to lean on, and a person to go to when big decisions need to be made.

Not Enough 

The many reports covering diversity in the upper echelons of financial services firms do note that encouraging more women to seek higher positions is not enough. Programs to help young women interested in science, technology, engineering and mathematics are crucial, because engagement in these disciplines can lead to breakthroughs, as it’s become increasingly clear that diversity is important when hashing out new ideas. It also allows companies to become more flexible and inviting in terms of how they structure their work environments.

Still, it’s important to remember that there are a number of trickier barriers that discourage women from becoming part of the board or part of an executive committee. Biases, unconscious or not, do exist. The financial and tech industries, as a whole, need to work on making sure these biases are addressed and rectified. 

Progress is being made, however. The presence of women like Jodi Richard in top bank positions is evidence of that. But talking with her, and my reaction to hearing her story, is also proof that more needs to be done.