It’s a headline — meant to be attention grabbing — designed to surprise and get as many eyeballs on the story as possible. Diversity in the workplace has been at the top of the agenda for a long time now; I can jump back at least 10 years and remember quite clearly that even then, as a recent school leaver, there were significant initiatives to drive women into more ‘male-focused’ industries like tech, science and banking.

Fast forward to 2022, and it is astonishing that we read headlines which highlight a continuation of an unbalanced world. The bridging and development sector is, unfortunately, a prime example of that. After spending almost 18 months at home, I, like many, became more sensitive and aware of my surroundings when normality returned. We’ve loved events, being back in the office and doing all those usual things but, for me, the factor that I have become most aware of is just how much our space lacks diversity.

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Why? I can’t tell you the answer to that for sure, but what I do know is that we are a relatively small sector and a very close-knit market. I can only speak to my own experience, but I have sat in many interviews at Avamore where candidates reference associates, colleagues, or even friends of friends from our space, to demonstrate familiarity or, sometimes, validity — but that does seem to be part of the challenge. As a collective, we must do more to open the doors of the specialist finance market and welcome new and more diverse talent in; that’s not just women, that’s people from different genders, ethnicities and backgrounds. We need to think about more lateral hires and outside-of-the-box recruitment; if the market continues fishing from the same pool, it’s going to quickly become stale, you’ll have very few ‘newbies’ coming in to shake things up and, in 10 years’ time, we’ll still be seeing a distinct lack of diversity in our sector.

Like most people, I happened to end up in the job I am doing by pure coincidence. In 2016, I worked at a small marketing agency helping Avamore in its very early days before being invited to join in-house in 2018. I was excited about the opportunity and the chance to build my own path. If I look back at my own journey, I feel very lucky to have landed where I am. I’ve been able to expand my role and try new things — all with the backing of a very supportive and empowering senior leadership team. My experience, on the whole, has always been a welcoming one. I’ve never felt that I didn’t get the first crack at something because I am a woman but, to be truthful, I have a personality where it doesn’t come naturally to shout the loudest to be heard and, sometimes, I have to get myself out of my comfort zone to do just that. 

I think most women in our sector probably have similar experiences; we are fortunate to live in an era where the misogynist in the room (and you still get the occasional one) is the odd one out — but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t go further to find ways to encourage more women into our space. We’ve made moves, including the adoption of the Women in Finance Charter, which is a good start, but there is definitely room for other initiatives.  International Women’s Day is a good opportunity to bring to light the ongoing challenges but, in my opinion, the fact that the day exists shows that we all still have a very long way to go. 

Are you a woman in the financial services industry keen to get your voice heard? Contact press@medianett.co.uk - we would love to chat!