Mentoring in the financial sector: get out of the women's trap

So now the CDU also has a – temporary – quota for women.

According to the decision, a third of the posts should be filled by women from 2023 onwards.

In a party that does not have a female prime minister and in which only twelve percent of the district associations are led by women.

In the 100 largest banks and 60 largest insurance companies in Germany, the proportion of women on the supervisory boards was a quarter in 2021, and 13 percent on the executive boards.

It has long been proven that diversity leads to better decisions.

And a high proportion of women in managerial positions increases the chances of better financial results.

But how do enough women from the – very male-dominated – financial sector get into the talent pool and how do they climb the ladder of their careers?

Quotas are not the only option.

"Great pent-up demand"

One solution could be mentoring programs.

Dorothea Schmidt, senior partner for financial services at the consulting firm Deloitte, says she first compiled facts and counted the women with managerial functions at the Frankfurt location.

"The international comparison showed that we had a lot of catching up to do," she recalls.

However, diversity in management cannot be achieved with a single initiative.

"It needs constant support from above." Together with a colleague, the second partner in the company, she developed measures for the internal advancement of women.

Schmidt had a mentor early in her career who gave her impetus and insight.

"For me, becoming a partner was an absurd thought, just like becoming Chancellor," she recalls.

The mentor awakened this desire in her.

"That's why it was important to me to give others the opportunities that mentoring offers," she says.

Her company's leadership program, which started in 2021, aims to make women more visible.

Those who are interested in managerial positions are accompanied by experienced partners of the company.

"The chemistry between the two has to be right," says Schmidt.

Both should meet several times a year.

The male or female mentor conveys what, in his or her experience, is important in a career.

"Both learn from each other.

However, such a program should not be lip service by the management in order to meet the spirit of the times.

"Women notice that and are gone again after two years."

Platform for mentoring and networking

Laura Schröder works as an investment manager in the investment company KKR in Frankfurt.

Together with five other women, she founded the German organization of the Europe-wide non-profit network Level 20 in 2018.

It offers women from the private equity industry a platform for mentoring and networking.

According to the network, in the year it was founded there were six percent women in top management positions in the industry; in 2021 it was ten percent in Europe.

Mentees and male or female mentors come from different companies that are not direct competitors and differ in size and industry focus.

"Because these neutral sparring partners are not bosses or colleagues, you can freely share your thoughts," says Schröder, who was a mentee of this program herself.

It is valuable

to speak to someone who is 15 years further in his career and who knows the profession well.

That's how she found her way.

The success of the mentoring is the responsibility of both.

Long-term relationships often developed.

Almost half of the mentors are male.

This perspective is helpful because most bosses in private equity are men.

On the other hand, through the open exchange, mentors got to know the career-related needs of women that would otherwise be denied to them.

“Men are part of the solution”

Eva Meyer, who has been a board member of BNP Paribas in Frankfurt since 2021, went through the internal mentoring program as a mentee in 2019.

Her mentor was 15 years further in her career and encouraged Meyer to take the next step.

"We exchanged ideas on the meta level," she says, her mentor works in a different industry.

Of the 6,000 employees in Germany, 20 to 40 women are admitted to the program in each round.

Men are mentors too.

"Men are part of the solution," says Meyer.

She is now the patron of the program and also a mentor.

Helping young women to get through the glass ceiling is a matter close to her heart.

Women are not taught to behave like men.

“Mentoring encourages what we as women can contribute,” she says.

The Level 20 organization tried to evaluate whether mentoring has an effect.

The professional developments of women in England who went through the mentoring program from 2015 to 2019 were examined.

According to this, 93 percent of these women continued to work in the industry, 69 percent were promoted, and two-thirds stayed in the same company.

So women might consider looking for employers who offer them mentoring programs.