When it comes to gender equality, Norma Jarboe, director of Opportunity Now, says banks aren’t the ogres they’re sometimes made out to be.

Historically, investment banks have been guilty of fostering a macho culture where women have found it more difficult to succeed than men. We’ve all heard of the aggressively competitive culture where long hours and old boys’ networks are the norm. And despite many organisations’ commitment to change, there are still big issues for women in this sector. Plenty of women work in investment banking, but the further up the hierarchy you go, the fewer and fewer you see. A recent survey from recruitment firm Alexander Mann found that only 7% of city traders were women. The gender pay gap in the finance sector is the largest of any, running at an estimated 43%. Investment banking is tough for women who leave to have children – research from the Centre for Work Life Policy has shown that of the 37% of women who have voluntarily left work at some point in their careers – for example to have kids – 93% want eventually to return, but only 67% of women in banking and finance are able to do so.

But while there are undeniably huge challenges for women in banking, many investment banks are now putting a lot of time, effort and resources into trying to overcome them. Indeed, as a sector they are often ahead of the game in terms of the innovative and effective initiatives they are implementing. Through our awards programme we recently recognised a number of investment banks that are working to create cultures which eliminate some of these barriers and enable women to succeed. Taken collectively, these initiatives form a plan for creating lasting cultural change. Here’s a brief summary of their components.

Champion change

Leaders hold the key to all cultural change. Research has shown that both male and female line managers rank public statements from senior leaders and their accompanying behaviour as the most important support they can receive in developing good diversity and management practice. Behaviour is particularly important and can send very powerful messages. I think there is no doubt that as soon as board or equivalent level leaders start to champion diversity, things happen. We awarded Betsy Nelson, head of EMEA corporate banking at JPMorgan, our ‘Champion’ award, because that is exactly what she has done. In an environment where women are typically outnumbered by men, she says leaders need to work more closely with line managers and employees to “raise awareness of the impact and contribution women make within the workplace.”

Link diversity to business success

Another way to create lasting change is to develop and articulate a business case which links diversity goals to short- and long-term business imperatives and strategic business plans. This is what Goldman Sachs’ ‘Ascend’ programme does very well. A series of events targeting female clients has consciously repositioned women’s events out of the context of diversity and into one of commercial opportunity.

Create development opportunities

Credit Suisse’s global four-month leadership programme, ‘Keys to Leadership – Unlocking Potential’, targets high-potential females and under-represented ethnic minority middle managers to ensure the company develops and retains them. 88 females across five countries have taken part and 33% of participants have been promoted within a year of attending the programme.

Increase flexibility of roles

Lehman is addressing the difficulty women have in re-entering the sector once they have taken a break for childcare with its ‘Encore’ programme, which makes flexibility in job design both a recruitment and retention tool. It means taking time out of the industry to look after children or elders need not spell the end of a financial services career, says Raj Ray, the bank’s European director of diversity and inclusion. “It reinforces the fact that we want people being the best they can,” he says.

· Opportunity Now is a charity that works to promote the business benefits of gender equality and diversity in the workplace.

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