British FinTech leaders have identified diversity as one of their biggest challenges. So what can be done to close the sector’s gender gap?
A new survey of 224 UK FinTech firms has revealed that male-female ratio has continued to be askew. Since 2017, 70.5% of workers in FinTech have been male and 29.5% female, according to the research by EY and Innovate Finance. Additionally, only 25% of FinTechs companies have at least one female co-founder.
But according to Michelle Wren, HR director at Freedom Finance, the loan and finance search platform, this discrepancy is nothing new.
“Broadly speaking, the tech industry has historically been represented by men,” she tells FinTech Global. “Research shows that the issue over gender inequality in our industry begins at school and carries on through every stage of girls’ and women’s lives. Creating diversity in the workplace is a persistent challenge across all industries which can take years to change.”
She suggests that in order to tackle the challenge head-on, the industry must do more to widen its talent pool, beginning at school. “Educating and inspiring young girls about the opportunities of a career in tech early on will help to close the inequality gap as they progress through the education system,” Wren suggests.
The inspiration aspect is something that Julie Kellett, head of human resources at moneycorp, the currency exchange and international payments company, also mentions whilst sharing her insights with FinTech Global.
“In a male-dominated industry it can sometimes be difficult to recruit and retain women, particularly in senior management roles,” she says.
To encourage that, companies can use their marketing to highlight that they are welcoming to a diverse set of talent. “To celebrate International Women’s Day, we collaborated with Everton Ladies Football Club to produce a piece of content about what it’s like to be a modern woman,” Kellet suggests. “The video, which we used on our social channels, demonstrates to potential employees that moneycorp.”
Moreover, Wren argues that industry leaders must ensure that their organisation’s culture appeals to women as well as men. “It’s important to address unconscious gender bias at all organisational levels – even down to the phrasing of job adverts which can impact whether women will apply for a particular role,” Wren explains.
Similarly, she believes training staff to be aware of unconscious bias and introducing maternity and paternity schemes could go a long way to boost the diversity in the scene.
Investors could also have a key role to play, according to Allie Burns, CEO at venture capital company Village Capital.
“If more businesses led by women attracted the funds to scale, this would inspire other women to follow in their footsteps and change the composition of the industry,” Burns tells FinTech Global. “However, for this to happen, good intentions are not enough – investors need to change their methods. To date, overwhelmingly male tech investors have tended to pick investees according to a pattern that more often than not precludes women.”
Instead, she argues, companies can opt to try things like peer-selected investment “that rely on the entrepreneurs who participate in an accelerator to choose who receives funding.”
Burns suggest that this process enables a higher proportion of women founders receive investment and their companies are just as high performing as those founded by their male peers.
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