Can You Go Into a Career in Investment Banking as a Woman?

It’s widely known that in the traditionally hypercompetitive business industries like finance and investment banking, offices are typically male-dominated, with the vast majority of staff at all levels being men.

This statistic alone is sometimes enough to drive many women and female students away from pursuing a career in this field.

However, this certainly doesn’t mean that women aren’t able to, or should not try to chase a finance career at all.

In today’s blog post, let’s talk about women in the finance industry, and all the good and bad things that come with chasing such a career.

Can Women Work in Finance and Investment Banking?

The short answer is yes.

Absolutely, women can work in finance and investment banking.

The long answer?

Well, it’s still a yes, but statistically speaking; it’s probably going to be more difficult to not only land a job, but also perform well and advance in your career as a woman.

Why is it Harder to Work in Finance as a Woman?

Many women will find themselves intimidated by the thought of entering a male dominated industry, in the fear of failure, or being judged for being different among their peers.

However, beyond these fears, there are real, statistically backed hurdles that women will undoubtedly face when entering the finance profession.

These are:

Biases in Hiring and Recruiting

Recruiters will likely unknowingly favor male candidates when it comes to hiring and recruiting for investment banking positions.

This is likely due to the fact that there are existing stereotypes between the two genders, as well as the fact that the industry is already male dominated, making male candidates seem to be a better ‘cultural fit’.

It’s not to say that female candidates don’t get hired, because they certainly do.

However if two candidates were equally as qualified, and everything else was the same but one was male and the other was female; the male candidate is likely to come out on top.

Gender Stereotypes

Now, it’s no secret that men and women think and act differently.

With that, comes stereotypes.

Men are generally seen to be better at handling tough, stressful situations, which are a common occurrence in the competitive world of finance and investment banking.

Men are also generally seen as more rational decision makers, especially under pressure and when stakes are high.

For these reasons, hiring, recruiting, and even networking in the finance industry can be more difficult for female candidates and aspiring bankers.

It sucks, but that’s just how the world is unfortunately.

Added Stress and Pressure

Many women will also understandably feel more pressure to perform well at their jobs, in an attempt not to confirm those negative stereotypes that they might have been called out for in the past.

This added mental stress and pressure can lead to adverse effects on their performance, making it even more difficult for women in finance to thrive and perform at their best.

Lack of Role Models

Obviously, since there aren’t many women working in finance to begin with, new female finance professionals are going to have a lack of role models that they can look up to.

There likely aren’t going to be many examples of women in their vicinity who have achieved big in the finance industry that they can reach out to.

This can be tough on their motivation and confidence in the workplace, as well as when it comes to looking for career growth and advancements.

Many women will simply have to rely on their own grit and determination to find success, often without anybody to look up to or to guide them along the journey.

Struggles With Work-Life Balance

Finance is a highly demanding industry.

Many workers find themselves commonly clocking in upwards of 70 or 80 hours a week, and constantly having to stay on-call or be prepared to get back to work, no matter the time of day or which day of the week it is.

Women with family responsibilities, such as those with children, will practically have no chance of being able to sustain a career in finance or investment banking.

Women who need to go home by 5PM to tend to their children are going to be faced up against men who don’t HAVE to go home at that time, and are willing to stay until 2AM to get the job done.

They’ll be up against younger men (and women!) who are prepared to do whatever it takes to achieve success in their careers, whether that’s making it to the associate level, the vice president level, or moving to the buyside.

On average, women tend to require a more forgiving work-life balance, and this is just another reason why many find it difficult to compete against the other players in such a heavily male-dominated game.

Struggles With Confidence

Lastly, with the rise of diversity programs and initiatives in the global world of business, many women will find themselves wondering whether they are what’s known as ‘diversity hires’.

Essentially, these are the people who were hired solely because they are different from the regular demographic of people who tend to get hired for these jobs, and not because they were actually the most qualified, or actually ‘earned’ the job offer as so to speak.

Now, while this does help increase the number of women working in finance and investment banking, many also face the issue of not knowing whether they truly earned their job offers, or were simply hired because the HR departments told their recruiting teams to choose them so that their companies could look good on their diversity social media posts.

Read more:

The Verdict

Well, it’s certainly not to say that women can’t work in finance or investment banking, because that simply isn’t true.

There are too many examples around us of women who have been wildly successful in investment banking and the finance industry.

However, statistically speaking, it is going to be a more difficult journey as a woman, at all stages of your career.

Whether it’s the initial networking phase, the recruiting process, performing on the job, or looking for the next career move, it’s all going to be tougher.

That’s just something that women wanting to work in finance and investment banking are going to have to embrace, and face head-on.

All the best of luck to you and your business career endeavors!

Oh, and I’d highly recommend that you check out the rest of the Medium publication; Grad Excel if you’d like to learn more about excelling as a student and landing top positions in the competitive business world!