Is Finance Finally Listening to Women?

Are financial services firms finally listening to women? The escalation of diversity, equity and inclusion strategies suggests that they are. We spoke to the experts about what women want and why flexibility is only the beginning.

When Rachel Harris went back to work after having three children and two pauses, it was part of a returners’ program at Goldman Sachs. She trialed different departments, updated her skills and built her confidence back, while retaining the flexibility she needed to manage life complications at home. “They really put us on a pedestal,” she recalls. “There was nobody we couldn’t network with.”

Today, having recently joined Schroders after a stint at Aviva Investors, Harris is chair of the returners’ workstream at the Diversity Project, a cross-company initiative that aims to boost the number of returners in the U.K. investments and savings industry. She says the key to fixing the broken talent pipeline in financial services comes down to being agnostic about male and female leave.