Celebrating International Women’s Day

By Jane Counsel, MFAA Opportunities for Women Program Research Lead and Co-Founder of thrive4women

This International Women’s Day it is timely to reflect on the similarities between the under representation of women in mortgage and finance broking and technology-related industries.

In 2023, the official theme of the United Nations sanctioned International Women’s Day “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality”, is highlighting gender inequalities in the availability and usage of digital technologies, women’s under representation in technology related industries and the rise of online violence against women.

With brokers writing over 70% of all new residential home loans in Australia and tech industries expected to be responsible for 75% of all jobs globally by 2050, both sectors play an important part in shaping economic growth, innovation, and prosperity. Yet without equal representation, the opportunities for women to influence innovation and also benefit from economic growth are critically limited.

In Australia, women comprise just 36% of enrolments in university STEM courses and just 15% of the workforce.

In broking, women now represent just 25.5% cent of all brokers, the lowest level ever recorded. We also know that women are likely to come into broking not directly from school or university, but after they have forged a career in a related industry.

Retention is also a challenge for both industries. In STEM industries globally, some 22% of women are considering leaving, there is considerably lower rates of promotion and almost half of all women report experiencing workplace harassment.

According to feedback from brokers (MFAA’s Opportunity for Women Research 2022 report), the top three perceived barriers to female broker participation in the mortgage and finance industry are:

1. Unconscious beliefs about gender roles in the workplace
2. An industry culture that is not inclusive of women
3. Conscious beliefs about gender roles in the workplace

#PowerOn

So, on this International Women’s Day I’d encourage you to take the time to reflect on the role you can play to #PowerOn to help increase the participation and retention of female brokers . Here are a few simple actions to consider:

1. Bust the myths about what makes an ideal broker – for women being a successful broker can mean much more than financial success so reward and celebrate diverse brokers
2. Dismantle the systematic barriers to women’s representation and retention – effective solutions must target the barriers that force women out of the industry. Make your workplace family friendly and call out and act on non-inclusive behaviours
3. Promote the benefits to young women about working in this industry – broking is highly appealing to women due to the nature of the work, the ability to run a business and the flexibility offered so start having crucial conversations that influence career choices
4. Be part of the solution – everyone has a part to play so be a role model for inclusive behaviour, mentor a female broker, be a vocal advocate for change and be innovative in finding solutions.

Useful links:

UN Women and the United Nations 2023 theme: https://www.unwomen.org/en/news-stories/in-focus/2023/03/in-focus-international-womens-day

MFAA Opportunities for Women Program: https://www.mfaa.com.au/professional-development/research/opportunitiesforwomen