Is Investment Banking tougher for woman?

Ask Ivy has asked woman investment bankers to share their thoughts and experience of their working life in the City as a femal investment banker. The summary is below.

This is quite a difficult topic, but overall, from a woman perspective, I would say that while investment banking is generally a tougher job to handle for most woman, this is changing quite rapidly and there is an increasing number of woman in senior positions in the City.

Yes, it is tougher for woman from a simple from physical perspective, in general

Banking always involves long hours, time pressure and intense multi-task. It is more challenging physically for women than men in general. Without trying to argue that woman are physically weaker, in general, most man will find it less difficult to spend several days without sleeping and remain calm when being shouted at. From a personal experience, I have seen a few female junior analysts break in tears when being blamed or shouted at, but I am yet to see an male analyst do so. At least from an external perspective, it seems that men in general handle the pressure better.

From a societal perspective, especially in conservative environments such as banks, a woman is still perceived as someone who should be spending more time at home with the family, but this is changing.

In most cases, the woman tends to be the one that will be blamed if she always stays in the office rather than with her children. Men are more easily able to escape from this family responsibility. So in general, a banking job is more difficult for a woman because of this external pressure. An untold truth is that there is also some fear of promoting woman at the top, because it may be the case that she will want to slow down at some point to take care of her family.

But on the other hand, many men are also facing the same problem. They also need sleep and want to spend time with their families. They also want to go to the gym and enjoy social life. While woman can take maternity leave when they have babies, men too, can take parternity leave.

So, gradually, the challenge for both men and women is becoming the same, and men and women are on an equal footing.

The workplace for woman is changing rapidly and becoming more friendly

The fact is that more and more women are in senior positions, especially in the City. There are several reasons for this. First of all, banks realise they need a better balance and that they need to tap into the large talent pool that the female population represents: often, female leaders are perceived to be more consertive and long-term focused than men.

Secondly, discrimination lawsuits have drawn significant attention and banks are becoming more and more careful to create more female-friendly workplaces. This includes maternity leavers, subsidies for kindergardens and childcare, working mothers associates, etc.

Thirdly, investment banking now offers more flexibility thanks to its internal transfer policy (can change to less demanding jobs within the bank, temporarily or permanently) and remote working (working from home).

Overall, men colleages are showing more respect to woman and women now start to play important roles in banking. A proof of this is the flourishing female associations such as the Woman in Banking and Finance or City Women. While it requires a good sense of orgnisation and sometimes standing up for your right, nowadays, it is perfectly possible for a woman to become Managing Director and lead a very happy family life.

Examples of successful woman in the City:

CAROL GALLEY: 51-year-old co-head of Merrill Lynch Asset Management, with over dollars 1 trillion in her care.

NICOLA HORLICK: 39-year-old managing director of SG Asset Management

LESLEY MacDONAGH: 47-years old Managing partner at City lawyers Lovells

HELEN ALEXANDER: CEO of the Economist group, 43

AMELIA FAWCETT: 43 year-old MD of Morgan Stanley in London

JAN HALL: Rising star of London head-hunting firm Spencer Stuart

KATE BINGHAM: 34 years old, Kate runs the fast-growing life science fund at Schroder Ventures, which is the largest of its kind in the world

ANNE FARLOW: After a stint at Morgan Stanley, 34-year-old Farlow joined venture capital firm Electra in 1992; she moved to Hong Kong as a director in 1996, returning to the London HQ last year

MARISA DREW: Wharton MBA, Managing Director at Credit Suisse, Co-Head of European Global Markets Solutions Group and Co-Head of the European Leveraged Finance Group