HR
managers in the finance sector believe men have an advantage over women in
reaching management level, while female staff are also perceived to be less
focused on climbing the career.
According
to research, 39 per cent of HR and finance managers believe female staff in the
finance sector are less motivated to reach management than their male
colleagues.
In
addition, more than a quarter of those questioned believe men have an advantage
over women when trying to reach management positions.
The
survey, by consultancy Accountemps, also revealed that only 1 per cent felt
women had an advantage over men in the same situation.
More
than 1,550 HR and finance staff from nine countries were questioned as part of
the research, which seems to show that equality is still a problem in the
sector.
Ian
Graves, a manager at Accountemps, said: "Female finance professionals
should not be deterred in their career advancement by these results. There is
still a tremendous amount of opportunity for women working in finance, and our
survey showed that the majority of our respondents (65 per cent) have a female
to male ratio of finance staff of more than 50 per cent.
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"There
is, however, a clear need for perceptions of women in the industry to change if
they are to have the same career opportunities as men. Hopefully surveys like
this will highlight this need," he added.
