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A Note about Women in "Financial Services"

There is no one single number to answer the question "How many women are in financial services?" because there is no single official definition of "financial services." Instead, we must look at different occupations that fall within the field of financial services.

Statistics for Various Financial Services Related Occupations

• According to the 2012 Catalyst Census of Women Executive Officers and Top Earners, which counts the number of women in upper management in Fortune 500 companies, women are 18.6% of executive officers in the finance and insurance industries.1
• In 2012, women were 23.1% of all senior officers in the finance and insurance industries in Financial Post 500 companies.2
• In addition, women are 19.0% of board directors in the finance and insurance industries in Fortune 500 companies.3
• Similarly, in Financial Post 500 companies, women were 22.2% of all board directors in the finance and insurance industries in 2011.4
• In 2012, women were 11.3% of CFOs of the Fortune 500.5
• The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission collects information from private employers with 100 or more employees or federal contractors with 50 more employees. According to the EEOC, in 2010:
  • Women made up 40.5% of all employees and 17.7% of executive/senior-level officials and managers at the 1,275 companies that fall into the category "Securities, Commodity Contracts and Other Financial Investments and Related Activities."6
  • Women made up 35.2% of all employees and 15.0% of executive/senior-level officials and managers at the 227 companies that fall into the category "Investment Banking and Securities Dealing" (which is a subcategory of "Securities, Commodity Contracts & Other Financial Investments").7
  • Women made up 59.5% of all employees and 29.6% of executive/senior-level officials and managers at the 4,236 companies that fall into the category "Commercial Banking."8
  • Women made up 52.6% of all employees and 30.4% of executive/senior-level officials and managers at the 1,188 companies that fall into the category "Accounting, Tax Preparation, Bookkeeping, and Payroll Services"9
• According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics10, in 2012, women made up the following percentages of these occupations:

• According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics11, in 2012, women made up the following percentages of these industries: (note, these do not factor position level)

Accounting Degrees

* CIMA fellows are members of CIMA (Chartered Institute of Management Accountants) with considerable leadership experience

In Canada in 2006:

• Women were 71.5% (2,162,005) of all business, finance, and administrative occupations, compared to men’s share of 28.5% (863,425).13

How to cite this product: Catalyst. Catalyst Quick Take: Women in Financial Services. New York: Catalyst, 2013.

• 1. Rachel Soares, Samanta Bonaparte, Sherika Campbell, Victoria Margolin, and Jocelyn Spencer, "2012 Catalyst Census: Fortune 500 Appendix 8—Women's Representation By NAICS Industry," 2012 Catalyst Census: Fortune 500 Women Executive Officers and Top Earners (Catalyst, 2012).
• 2. Liz Mulligan-Ferry, Andrew Malordy, and Ashley Peter, "2012 Catalyst Census: Financial Post 500 Women Senior Officers and Top Earners Appendix 5—Women’s Representation By NAICS Industry," 2012 Catalyst Census: Financial Post 500 Women Senior Officers and Top Earners (Catalyst, 2013).
• 3. Rachel Soares, Samanta Bonaparte, Sherika Campbell, Victoria Margolin, and Jocelyn Spencer, "2012 Catalyst Census: Fortune 500 Appendix 8—Women's Representation By NAICS Industry," 2012 Catalyst Census: Fortune 500 Women Board Directors (Catalyst, 2012).
• 4. Liz Mulligan-Ferry, Morgan Friedrich, and Sabra Nathanson, "Appendix 5: Women’s Representation by NAICS Industry," 2011 Catalyst Census: Financial Post 500 Women Board Directors (Catalyst: 2012).
• 5. Catalyst, unpublished data (2012).
• 6. U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, "2010 EEO-1 National Aggregate Report by NAICS-3 Code: 523 - Securities, Commodity Contracts, and Other Financial Investments and Related Activities," 2010 Job Patterns For Minorities and Women in Private Industry.
• 7. U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, "2010 EEO-1 National Aggregate Report by NAICS-5 Code: 52311: Investment Banking & Securities Dealing," 2010 Job Patterns For Minorities and Women in Private Industry.
• 8. U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, "2010 EEO-1 National Aggregate Report by NAICS-5 Code 52211: Commercial Banking," 2010 Job Patterns For Minorities and Women in Private Industry.
• 9. U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, "2010 EEO-1 National Aggregate Report by NAICS-4 Code 5412: Accounting, Tax Preparation, Bookkeeping, and Payroll Services," 2010 Job Patterns For Minorities and Women in Private Industry.
• 10. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey, "Table 11: Employed Persons by Detailed Occupation, Sex, Race, and Hispanic or Latino Ethnicity, 2012" Annual Averages 2012 (2013).
• 11. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey, "Table 18: Employed Persons by Detailed Industry, Sex, Race, and Hispanic or Latino Ethnicity, 2012," Annual Averages 2012 (2013).
• 12. Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, "Reflections from Asia Pacific leaders" (2010).
• 13. Statistics Canada, "Experienced Labour Force 15 Years and Over by Occupation and Sex, By Province and Territory," 2006 Census (2010).