This study counts only 1,365 women out of 5,815 promotions and hirings to management positions last year in British financial services, or 23.5%.

It is however a little better than in 2020 (21%), specifies Fox and Partners.

“Women remain underrepresented at senior management level, but, even more worryingly, also in new appointments to senior management positions,” notes Catriona Watt, partner at the law firm.

She notes that it will therefore take "significant" cultural changes to accelerate the march towards parity.

"The percentage of women in senior leadership positions is going to have to increase dramatically, or we're unlikely to achieve leadership parity in this generation," she warns.

Recent studies by Fox & Partners also show that male directors in financial companies on the FTSE 350, the broader index of the London Stock Exchange, received emoluments two thirds higher than women who sat on the same boards of directors in 2021 - 689,550 pounds against 235,075 pounds on average.

The firm recommends mentorship and actions to support women who could be candidates for these positions, and that companies commit to following the recommendations of the charter for women in finance of the British Treasury.

These include appointing at least one person from the senior management team to be responsible for diversity, setting senior management parity goals, publishing an annual report to assess progress, linking compensation for diversity objectives, etc.

At FTSE-100 companies, thanks to criteria hitherto voluntary and published only by a government-mandated body on assessing parity in listed companies, the number of women on boards has increased in ten years from 12.5% ​​to almost 40%.

The delay is still significant for senior management positions and with regard to equal pay for men and women, as shown by the Fox & Partners study.

The FTSE-100, which includes the hundred largest valuations in London, has less than ten female CEOs, including Amanda Blanc at Aviva but also Carolyn McCall at ITV, Alison Rose at Natwest, Emma Walmsley at GSK, Alison Brittain at Whitbread or Liv Garfield at Severn Trent.

The UK Markets Regulation Agency (FCA) has recently stepped up pressure for more diversity among listed UK companies, now demanding "explanations" if they fail to meet certain thresholds, including 40% women on the board. administration.

© 2022 AFP