Why so few women at senior levels in banks?

At most banks, an estimated 25-35 per cent of women employees join at the entry level, with only 17-20 per cent at mid-management, with the numbers at the senior level ending in single digits. Why is this so?

At the individual level, whether it is lacking career-intentionality to achieve top jobs, suffering from imposter syndrome, or being held back by the sociocultural construct for women, there are several reasons why women may not break the proverbial glass ceiling.

Over the last decade, it was felt that women leaders lack role models and mentors at senior levels to guide them on the way up the career ladder. So, most large organisations around the world started providing mentorship to their high-performing women. Mentors are seasoned professionals who provide direct support by way of guidance, advice, feedback on skills for personal growth and development of the mentee.

More recently, lack of sponsorship has been cited as the biggest reason for women not reaching the corner office. Sponsorship cannot be confused with mentorship. A sponsor is like an influential mentor who provides the protégés advocacy and visibility, connecting them to the people that matter. Sponsors leverage their own power and reputational capital, and lend their protégés legitimacy by boosting their achievements and help establish their worthiness for key roles.

The system (human resources, and diversity and inclusion leaders), therefore, need to link promising women leaders with powerful sponsors in the ecosystem to enable them to land key assignments that would prepare them for C-suite roles. For example, K V Kamath is remembered for giving the industry some amazing women chief executive officers (CEOs) by nurturing their talent.

In my leadership coaching practice, I have often found that high-achieving women seeking advice on how to advance their careers grapple with vague feedback and patronising attitudes (read mansplaining) vis-à-vis their male counterparts, who are guided to specific actionable targets. This is usually regarding their networking skills, managing complex problems or super specialisations, toughening up to manage teams or handling office politics. Many women leaders at senior levels tend to be in staff roles rather than having line responsibilities, hence wielding less influence and ultimately losing out on coveted positions.

There never seem to be more than one or two women CEOs in state-run and foreign banks at any time. Private banks seemed to be doing well at one time because there were some notable women CEOs and C-suite women leaders in them. But concentrated efforts seem to be lacking in selection, development and appointment of more women leaders for top jobs.

I believe there is an excellent pipeline of talented, efficient and hardworking women in all rungs of banks, but they need to be nurtured. Banks need to salvage careers of women employees in those crucial years when they are burdened with home, child and parental burdens. Lastly, selection committees for top roles cannot comprise only of men with patriarchal views, because then women won’t stand a chance.

I am heartened to see that the BFSI industry has expanded and fintechs, payments, and e-commerce companies have some amazing women leaders. Maybe it’s time the traditional banking sector learns from these industries.

Moreover, we shouldn’t forget that as financial inclusion increases, the reach of private banks expands in the hinterland and the problem compounds. Women in those parts still remain suspicious of private companies, long working hours, and client-facing jobs. To align with the government’s “Nari Shaki” initiative, banks will have to think out-of-the-box to ensure the intake in the private sectors grows in these regions, as the economic prosperity of India will come through Bharat. More power to our tribe!

The writer is CEO of M-Suite Leadership Consulting LLP, and former country head, HR and corporate services, HDFC Bank