Fintech faces gender diversity issues

Fintech is facing a gender diversity problem.

A study last year revealed that less than 30 percent of the UK’s Fintech workforce was female. When Fintech founders were interviewed about this issue, they claimed that they do not get an equal number of applications from men and women and “that the people they hire are a reflection of the applicants.”

However, as a founder, you might wonder why so few women want to work for your company. You might spot the problem and try to over-index on female hires relative to applications. Or you might have women-only shortlists as a business-critical imperative.

The second gender imbalance Fintech relates to senior team representation. Only 17 percent of senior Fintech roles are held by women. The numbers get even worse when we look to founders of fintech companies. A quick run-through of the founders of companies selected for the fintech 50 reveals 118 men and just six women. That is just over 5 percent.

Lastly, the third gender imbalance in Fintech is gender inequality in fintech’s user base. This issue has not been taken up much. The limited data that is available suggests that men are more likely to login to mobile apps designed for financial management.

Also, Fintech does not publish figures on the gender split of their user base.

So, it is becoming increasingly important to represent females in corporate positions and in the user base. By identifying some basic steps, the company can take to start leveling out these gender diversity issues.

For example, one firm is offering double finder’s fees to employees that recommend successful female job candidates while another is reviewing all its job descriptions to ensure the language appeals to female applicants.

The first step is to make a conscious effort to rebalance gender inequality in Fintech and then it can be decided as to what is working and what is not.