Individual, interpersonal, and organisational links to women’s advancement in management in banks

Abstract

Over the years women have increased their representation at all levels of management in banking (Wirth, 2001;Metz and Tharenou, 1999). Yet, women find banking and finance to be a particularly difficult environment for career advancement in countries such as the UK (e.g. Liff and Ward, 2001;Parker et al., 1998) and Australia (e.g. Still, 1997). For instance, in Australia, empirical evidence shows that women have a lower representation in finance in management and at executive level (Affirmative Action Agency, 1996;Hede and O'Brien, 1996) than in most other industries. Banking is part of the finance industry and women dominate the full-time Australian banking workforce (Metz and Tharenou, 1999). In addition, women are expected to continue to make up an increasing proportion of the labour force in most countries (Wirth, 2001), including in Australia (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1999). Therefore, to best manage female talent in the current competitive environment, it is important for banks to have a contemporary understanding of the factors that are linked to women's advancement.Scholars have called for a comprehensive examination of individual and non-individual factors that may be linked to women's managerial advancement (e.g. Riger and Galligan, 1980;Rowe and Snizek, 1995). However, the author found few empirical studies that specifically examined the relative importance of individual, interpersonal, and organisational factors to women's managerial advancement in banking. For instance, in Australia, only one study appears to have examined women's managerial advancement in banks using a multivariate approach, and it focused on one small bank (McIsaac and Bordia, 1997). Other past studies in banking or in finance either have used small samples from one organisation (e.g. Lyness and Thompson, 1997;

Senior careers in retailing

“…Similar to other findings (Coe, 1992;Charlesworth, 1997;Wajcman, 1998;Metz, 2003), many of the barriers senior women believed they faced were attributed to their primary role in the family and discriminatory organisational practices. Many women also reported as barriers, those areas they had identified as personal career strategies.…”

Equal opportunity outcomes for women in the finance industry in Australia: Evaluating the merit of EEO plans

“…Rather than a pipeline, this industry offers a reservoir or holding tank with the expectation that individuals will themselves provide the impetus for change. Metz (2003) notes that the development and promotion of women in this industry is already an individual phenomenon, with women's advancement principally linked to their training and development and years of work experience as well as work hours, occupation type, change and education. Further, Beck and Davis (2005) note that of the numbers of women in management at one bank, the majority did not come up through any pipeline.…”

“…The traditional requirement of mobility in a banking career has been a handicap in women's advancement to senior managerial levels (Metz and Tharenou 2001). Metz (2003) notes that there is little evidence of organisational support for women advancing into management in this sector, rather their achievements are based on individual merit, that is, their own knowledge and skills and their individual development of these. Yet the lack of relevant educational knowledge is an issue for women in their access and promotion in the industry (Beck and Davis 2005).…”

“…Factors such as the difficulties in balancing paid work and family care are important for women in finance as, in common with other women workers, these women are more likely to assume major responsibility for childcare and family-related issues. It is therefore no surprise that women in the finance industry report work-life balance issues as important more frequently than men (Granleese 2004;Metz 2003;Michaelson et al 2003). These factors present a barrier at a systemic level that individual women find difficult to overcome: 'The financial services industry, both because of its historical culture and the long hours put in by employees has traditionally been a difficult environment for women' (Michaelson et al 2003, 4).…”

Joining the Dark Side: Women in Management in the Dominican Republic

“…Women in paid employment struggle for space and credibility. Women continue to be underrepresented in senior management (Davidson and Burke, 2004;Harris et al, 2007;Hymowitz, 2006;Metz, 2003;Schein, 2001) and also differ in terms of treatment, power and authority in all sectors of the economy. Blair-Loy (2001, p. 687) notes that 'despite progress in dismantling barriers to gender equality, gendered cultural models of work and family continue to constrain women's workplace achievement'.…”