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Underneath the stories are the numbers, and these show that change, in the ways that matter most, have been superficial. A Government Accountability Office report from December 2017 concluded that women had made no progress—none—in increasing their ranks in management in the financial industry from 2007 to 2015, with women in New York faring the worst in the country. The number of women in what the G.A.O. defines as “senior-level management positions” held constant at just under 30 percent. Lest education gaps be blamed, the report also pointed out that between 2011 and 2015 women in the financial industry possessed 58 percent of the bachelor’s degrees, 60 percent of the master’s degrees, and 45 percent of the M.B.A.’s. According to Ariane Hegewisch, a program director at the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, women in the brokerage business earn on average less than 60 percent of what men do.
“Do we really think 90 percent of the best people for these jobs are white men?” Sallie Krawcheck asks. “We are so used to it and accepting of it that we call Wall Street a meritocracy!”
The more insidious forms of discrimination are harder to stamp out than the overt ones. “It has evolved,” says a lawyer who handled discrimination cases at the E.E.O.C. for many years. “[Harassment] has become more sophisticated, hidden, and subtle.”
Or as the woman who tells me Wall Street is outperforming also says, “It is not a #MeToo culture, but it is a culture where it’s hard for women to thrive. I think the outright sexual harassment was drummed out of the place years ago,” she says about her former work environment. “But you can be excluded nonetheless, because some men have a fundamental lack of ability to work with women. That’s the killer part. That’s the experience most women I know have had.”
That exclusion is especially devastating to women’s careers. “Power in an organization is all about information and access,” says Melanie Katzman, a New York psychologist who runs a consulting firm that advises corporations, including big financial firms. “If you can’t speak comfortably with a woman with the door closed, that woman is being cut off from information and access.”
“You get promoted via sponsors, not mentors,” another woman, who was senior at a big Wall Street firm, says. “If a man can’t get to know his female co-workers enough to be a sponsor, that’s a problem.”
Brande Stellings, who runs the advisory services at Catalyst, recently published a report on women in capital markets in Canada. Her conclusion was similar. “The majority of men at all levels are able to point to sponsors who have supported their careers, while women struggle to identify sponsors or mentors who can help them successfully navigate their careers,” resulting in slower advancement for women and fewer female role models at the top.
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The politically incorrect, but nonetheless widespread, fear is that #MeToo is going to make more subtle forms of discrimination even worse. Even before #MeToo, Sherry wrote in her Times op-ed, she was told by banks’ H.R. departments that men were often afraid of hiring women because of the risk that even innocent comments could be misinterpreted and cause legal problems. “More than once I was told that it’s just easier to fire a guy or—my favorite line—that ‘there’s just less drama with men,’” she wrote.
There’s anecdotal evidence that this problem is getting worse. Katzman says she’s hearing stories from men who are “really nervous about being alone with women.” One client told her he wasn’t taking a female colleague on a business trip, because he feared that if he fell asleep on the plane his behavior might be misinterpreted. “I’m very concerned,” Katzman says, “that under the guise of protection we may be legitimizing the marginalization of women.”
She adds, “Some well-intentioned men undermine women by protecting them and sometimes men use ‘protection’ to intentionally undermine women. Women have worked so hard in areas like trading and finance to say, ‘I’m not brittle!’ This is a return to the old concept of women as fragile.”
“We have heard anecdotally that there is a chilling effect and that men are pulling back from sponsoring women,” says Stellings. She heard that one company made a rule that men and women could not meet behind closed doors in the office. “That is the current environment,” she says. “Most people think that is ridiculous, but there are some people who feel like the lines are not as clear now.” Stellings says she had a conversation with a senior woman executive, whose male colleague told her, “Well, I’m just not going to take women associates out to lunch now.” The woman replied, “I assume, then, that you won’t take the men out, either.”
An employment lawyer says, “I think the history of women in finance tells a really scary story. Unless female leadership at a firm has a voice already, I’m not terribly optimistic.” She says she heard from a woman who is a member of an elite women’s networking group in New York that “the people who are hiring are saying, ‘We are just not going to hire women.’”
“The worst thing they could do is what they’re going to do and not hire women,” she adds. “How messed up is that? They won’t even let us onto their playing field. What do we do?”
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And yet, and yet. There are forces pushing back against this. In the past, executives spoke about the need for change because their firms had lost lawsuits. Now they speak about the need for change because it’s a business imperative. “For us to deal with clients all over the world, we have to be more diverse,” says David Solomon, the president and co-C.O.O. of Goldman Sachs. “We are not where we need to be. But a lot has changed in the last 10 years and we have learned along the way.” Among other things, he’s led a push to change how Goldman recruits, in order to have diversity from the start. He says data shows that women actually don’t leave at a faster clip than men do. Reset the start button, and maybe you change the game.
And now, with a sluggish, heavily regulated Wall Street, the future might be in those entrepreneurial organizations started by women who leave big firms. Krawcheck founded Ellevest, a thriving start-up which provides investment advice for women outside of the male-dominated brokerage system.
A female hedge-fund manager who left her firm after being harassed isn’t quitting, either. Far from it. The day I talk to her is the day she’s launching her own fund, which will specialize in short-selling, or betting against companies that are frauds or otherwise overpriced. “It just made me angry, and anger is a great motivator,” she says. “It makes me want to go after criminal companies and take no fucking prisoners in this industry. Fuck all these guys for doubting me and holding me down.”
Now, that’s a movie script.
HOW TO BREAK UP THE SILICON VALLEY BOYS’ CLUB
Susan Wojcicki | March 2017
Every year around this time, we hear the same story in Silicon Valley. This year, it was Susan Fowler’s distressing account of her year at Uber, followed closely by A.J. Vandermeyden’s story alleging a culture of “pervasive harassment” at Tesla. Like many who read the stories, I was mad. But I was also frustrated that an industry so quick to embrace and change the future can’t break free of its regrettable past.
The allegations of explicit gender discrimination that Susan and A.J. describe are unacceptable, and any report of harassment deserves a thorough examination. But implicit biases can also harm women in the workplace through more subtle forms of gender discrimination. These include being frequently interrupted or talked over; having decision-makers primarily address your male colleagues, even if they’re junior to you; working harder to receive the same recognition as your male peers; having your ideas ignored unless they’re rephrased by your male colleagues; worrying so much about being either “too nice” or “sharp elbowed” that it hurts your ability to be effective; frequently being asked how you manage your work-life balance; and perhaps most difficult of all, not having peers who have been through similar situatio
ns to support you during tough times.
Fortunately, there is a solution that has been proved to address gender discrimination in all its forms, both implicit and explicit: hiring more women. Employing more women at all levels of a company, from new hires to senior leaders, creates a virtuous cycle. Companies become more attuned to the needs of their female employees, improving workplace culture while lowering attrition. They escape a cycle of men mostly hiring men. And study after study has shown that greater diversity leads to better outcomes, more innovative solutions, less groupthink, better stock performance and G.D.P. growth.
Despite this evidence, tech lags other male-dominated industries, such as finance and media, when it comes to gender balance, according to a 2016 World Economic Forum Study. So how can tech do better? Well—unlike the work of many Silicon Valley companies—it’s not rocket science.
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First, tech C.E.O.s need to make gender diversity a personal priority. Human Resources departments and diversity leads play a critical role, but they need the commitment and attention of the C.E.O. to succeed. Improving diversity, like any priority, requires dedicated resources, clear goals, comprehensive analytics, and company-wide transparency.
A great example of a C.E.O. taking this issue seriously is Reed Hastings of Netflix. In an effort to build a more flexible work culture, he took a strong stand on paid family leave. That policy led to a cascade effect, with companies like Microsoft and Amazon soon providing better family leave options, helping to limit the adverse effects that having children can have on a woman’s career. And increasing family leave helps retain female employees; at Google, when we increased paid maternity leave from 12 to 18 weeks, the rate at which new moms left dropped by 50 percent.
Second, companies need to provide money and staff to groups that support female—or any underrepresented—employees. Women’s groups have been a lifeline throughout my career, giving me a place to find inspiration, build friendships, and seek support during difficult times. But these groups take time and effort to organize, and often that burden falls on those who are already at a disadvantage. Underrepresented employees already have to overcome discriminatory barriers in their careers; they shouldn’t be expected to volunteer their time to help their companies do the same. Companies should take the lead from underrepresented groups, but they also need to provide resources to help them execute on their priorities, whether it’s holding trainings or off-sites, sending people to conferences or hosting social events.
Finally, addressing gender imbalance will require those who currently have power and influence to extend their privilege. In every organization, there are many people, from senior leaders to first-time managers, who have the power to elevate women in the workplace. I wouldn’t be in the position I’m in today without several key people in power believing in me and giving me a chance to succeed. One of those people was Bill Campbell, the legendary coach of Silicon Valley and a crucial figure in Google’s management, who passed away last April.
The most recent example of Bill’s support occurred soon after I became C.E.O. of YouTube. I learned about an important invitation-only conference convening most of the top leaders in tech and media, yet my name was left off the guest list. Many of the invitees were my peers, meaning that YouTube wouldn’t be represented while deals were cut and plans were made. I started to question whether I even belonged at the conference. But rather than let it go, I turned to Bill, someone I knew had a lot of influence and could help fix the situation. He immediately recognized I had a rightful place at the event and within a day he worked his magic and I received my invitation.
Bill’s presence is sorely missed in the Valley, but his example should live on in the way we run our companies. At YouTube, we still have a long way to go toward improving our diversity, but we’ve made some progress. We’ve supported underrepresented groups, established a C-level Leadership Diversity Council, and ramped up our female hiring—since I joined in 2014, we’ve gone from a company that is 24 percent women to one that’s nearly 30 percent.
Clearly, we and other companies still have a lot of work to do. But during a month when women all over the world are speaking out and rightfully asking for their contributions to be recognized, I hope Susan and A.J.’s stories can provide us a turning point. I hope this is the year in which C.E.O.s decide to take gender equality personally, give underrepresented groups the support they need, and use their positions to elevate more diverse leaders.
As someone who’s been lucky to have a great career in tech, I know how creative and fulfilling a career in this industry can be for women. And I want to make sure we continue to recruit and retain great female hires. As we work to improve our company cultures, I hope next year we hear a different story in Silicon Valley, one about greater diversity making the tech industry even stronger and more innovative.
HOW MILLENNIAL WOMEN ARE COMBATTING THE GENDER-PAY GAP
Maya Kosoff | April 2018
It’s a familiar story to almost any woman in the workforce, from minimum-wage earners to striving assistants to C.E.O.s: “Despite being a leader, I am still left off of important e-mails, left out of important decision-making processes, and left in the dark,” one woman wrote in a survey conducted by theSkimm. “When the group is together or a speaker is addressing us, they tend to only look towards the men—even with things as small as eye contact . . . the ‘boys’ club’ mentality is, unfortunately, still alive and thriving.” Other women recalled similar situations: being passed over for promotions, watching their female co-workers struggle to break through, or facing sexual harassment that drove them out of their industries. Their stories are a necessary reminder that despite the advances made by the #MeToo movement, millennial women are still running up against many of the same gender dynamics faced by generations before them—even if they don’t realize it themselves.
Today is Equal Pay Day—a date that marks how far into 2018 women must work to earn as much as men did the previous year. Unfortunately, substantial portions of the population don’t take the problem seriously, according to a new survey conducted by [VanityFair.com’s] the Hive, theSkimm, and SurveyMonkey as part of Millennial Takeover 2018, our year-long editorial project in advance of the midterm elections. As we found when investigating gender inequality in the workplace, many women don’t feel empowered to elevate themselves or their concerns at work because they recognize the systemic barriers created by sexism. But they persist, in part, because of prevailing partisan divides over the extent of the issue.
These findings are critical for businesses seeking to improve their office culture and bolster their bottom line. Nearly 7 in 10 Americans say significant obstacles to gender parity in the workplace still exist, a number that rises to almost 80 percent among millennial women. Most female millennials—65 percent—believe this inequality is due to sexism, and 55 percent believe that having too few women in leadership roles contributes to the problem. Almost half of African-American millennial women cite biased interview processes as a major hurdle. A huge percentage of female millennials—68 percent—believe that women make less money than men for doing similar jobs, and 66 percent believe men have more opportunities to be promoted to top positions.
When that cohort is divided by political affiliation, however, the picture becomes more complex. In theory, equal pay shouldn’t be a partisan issue, but 89 percent of Democratic and Democrat-leaning female millennial respondents say significant obstacles in the workplace exist for women, while only 60 percent of Republican and Republican-leaning millennial women say the same. A vast majority (81 percent) of Democratic and Democrat-leaning millennial women say men earn more for similar work, and the same percentage believe men have more opportunities to be promoted. Meanwhile, just 43 percent of Republican millennial women say men have more opportunities for advancement, while 45 percent say men and women are equally likely to be promoted.
Men are comparat
ively clueless when it comes to recognizing these disparities, with 46 percent responding that men and women earn about the same. The prevalence of male leaders appears to perpetuate the cycle of gender inequality: while the vast majority of millennial men are comfortable discussing raises, promotions, and salary information with both male and female managers, most millennial women are more comfortable covering the same topics just with female managers. “From my personal experience, men hold all the power at my company,” one woman said in the Skimm survey. “While we may have a significant number of women working on the payroll, it is ultimately up to a man in charge to approve a pay increase.” This creates a cycle where women hold fewer positions of power and female subordinates are less comfortable making requests in their own workplaces.
This ultimately has a major impact on businesses. We already know that diverse teams are more innovative and perform better financially than teams dominated by a single gender. According to our findings, however, gender disparities in the workplace also create a toxic feedback loop for employee retention. Thirty-two percent of female millennials (and 41 percent of Democratic and Democrat-leaning female millennials) say they would start looking for a new job if they discovered they were being paid less than a man for similar work. Nearly 60 percent of female millennials look for reasons to explain pay discrepancies at work, and sizable numbers would take action if they learned they made less than a male colleague. One-third say they would be upset upon discovering the news, while 4 in 10 would discuss the matter with human resources or try to negotiate a raise.
Vanity Fair's Women on Women Page 48