Last week, the Treasury Committee published a report titled Women in the City, suggesting that greater female representation at senior levels would have made the banking crisis 'less likely'.
The report said: "The lack of diversity on the boards of many, if not most, of our major financial institutions, may have heightened the problems of 'group-think' and made effective challenge and scrutiny of executive decisions less effective." The report also highlights that the sector is failing to properly utilise the talents of over half the population and clearly has substantial room for improvement.
John McFall, chair of the committee, commented: "Our work on the banking crisis highlighted the need for substantial improvement in corporate governance in the City. Diversity at the top is one way to challenge potentially dangerous 'group-think'.
"We are not saying that had women been in charge, the crisis wouldn’t have happened, but we are highlighting the fact that women are poorly represented in the financial sector, particularly at senior level. "Moreover, it can only surely be in the interests of financial institutions themselves to try to boost female representation at senior level and thus try to embed diversity and challenge more deeply into the culture of banking."
Committee members looked at the structure of the financial industry and ways that women can be allowed to progress to higher positions, such as providing flexible working and addressing the City culture of long working hours.
Here at Smart Opportunities for Women, we are keen to hear from potential exhibitors and sponsors who are keen to attract female talent to their organisations. The deadline for booking to exhibit at our upcoming event in Dartford is the 20th of April 2010.
Contact us today on 0844 3579 177
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