Disappearing women: Why do women leave senior roles in finance?

摘要

If Finance companies are keen to increase the number of senior women, understanding why they leave is important. Interviews with 27 women provided deeper understanding of the organisational culture facing women working at senior levels in Finance, as well as insights into the decision to leave. Various cultural aspects can cause frustration - some relate to working in Finance in general, while some relate to issues impacting women. The decision to leave appears to be a combination of frustration, change and choice. Nearly every woman had frustration with her job, but this alone was rarely enough to trigger a decision to leave. This tended to be at a time when the woman was undergoing some form of change (in personal circumstances or seeking change in her life) at which time she considered her options. Choice was also important. It seems women have choice to leave a senior role and take a lower paying one, or one with more flexibility - or even not to work at all.