Financial sector among gender diversity leaders, but gender gap remains 'substantial'

Women still under-represented on boards

A report by Refinitiv has found that the financial sector is in the top five economic sectors by female employment, although traditionally male-dominated industries still suffer from "severe under-representation" of female employees.

According to the report, two of the top five sectors for female representation are banking and investment services and insurance, where female employees make up 49.4% and 54.5% of the workforce, respectively. The other three sectors are drug and food retailing (56.4%), retailers (55.9%) and healthcare services and equipment (51.5%). However, the latter has seen a decrease in female managers in the last five years.  Overall, the report has shown that the percentage of women on boards has grown from 12.2% in 2013 to 18.1% in the 2017 financial year. At executive level, there has only...