June 19 2006 - In the finance field, the glass ceiling is firmly in place--at least according to women in the profession. A new survey conducted by CFO magazine finds that 40% of female finance executives say there are limits to their ascension in the function. To back up their claims, 34% of women report that they have been denied a promotion or a raise in the past five years partly because of their gender.
"In finance, diversity is still a goal, not a reality," says Julia Homer, editor-in-chief of CFO magazine, which documents the progress women have made in finance in its June cover story, "What Women Want." "Whether women face subtle discrimination, or choose to take themselves out of the running," adds Homer, "few are making it to the top echelons of finance."
The reasons for the void are indigenous to the function. Chief among them is the close nature of the CEO/CFO relationship, which was cited by 33% of the women in the survey. Other factors include the male-oriented culture of finance (28%) and the long hours involved (25%). For their part, men in the survey only concurred that the long hours were a barrier to success (24%).
The news is not all bad, however. Virtually none of the survey respondents--men or women--think women lack the intelligence or skills to be chief financial officers. Contradicting popular wisdom about women being afraid to stand up for themselves, the reality is that women in finance are slightly more likely than their male counterparts (60% versus 56%) to negotiate for salaries or benefits beyond an initial offer with a new employer.
Statistics provided by Heidrick & Struggles show that 35 companies in the Fortune 500 have female CFOs, up from 10 in 1995, the first year the magazine published statistics. That is still less than 10% of the total in the Fortune 500, and the numbers are similar in the Fortune 1,000. Drop down a notch to controller, treasurer, and tax director, and the numbers increase to about 20 percent of the Fortune 500.
In April, CFO surveyed 363 financial executives on their views about gender and finance careers. Other survey highlights include:
- Only 38% of men say that women are at a disadvantage in the finance. But 66% of women think they have a disadvantage.
- 68% of women say that flexible hours are an important factor when choosing a job. Only 40% of men do.
- 31% of women would prefer to work for a man compared with 28% of men.
- 16% of women aspire to be CEO vs. 24% of men (7% think they will attain the position, vs. 17% of men).
About CFO Publishing
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