If women’s pay reflects national values, America must be a nation of litigious pill poppers. The Bureau for Labor Statistics pegs the two most lucrative female professions in 2009 as pharmacist (median weekly earnings of $1,475) and lawyer ($1,449). The highest paid female professionals in finance are personal financial advisors, who come in 15th place, just behind psychologists (who offer a different sort of counsel). Banks and brokers should promote more women.
Women certainly work in finance; they sit behind two-thirds of the desks. But they are over-represented in operations and administration while trading and money management remain predominantly testosterone-fueled. Women hold only a quarter of securities and commodities sales roles, and a third of the financial advisor and analyst jobs.
The pay differential reflects the smaller number of women at the top of the heap. While women have closed the gap to men generally – median wages are now four-fifths of those made by their male counterparts, up from 62 per cent in 1979 – in finance, median female pay is 70 per cent of the male level. The superstars remain predominantly male too, with last year’s top female financial advisor overseeing a mere $2bn in assets.
Yet very nearly half the country’s millionaires are women, and they control more than half of the wealth. They are better educated than men, and typically outlive them too. Furthermore, more women in finance might make female customers happier. A Boston Consulting Group study of 12,000 women in 21 countries found that of all the industries encountered, financial services leaves them most dissatisfied. Reports of condescension and patronising sales efforts were common. Consumer goods companies have prospered by learning to understand what women want. It is surely time for the finance industry to do the same.
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