A new essay detailing findings from work done by ISC Group and EY says there are challenges hindering women’s career progression in Canada’s insurance sector.
This is backed up by research which shows that 56 per cent of the industry’s workforce are women, but this number drops off to just over one-quarter of executive leaders and only 18 per cent of senior vice presidents. This plummets even more dramatically at the C-suite level: Only seven of Canada’s 100 largest publicly-traded companies have female CEOs.
The essay by EY’s senior manager of insurance technology consulting, Cassandra Chowdhury, which analyzes the challenges hindering women’s equitable career progression in the industry, explores four key themes, including limited leadership representation (one of the biggest challenges, alongside limited opportunities for advancement, identified by survey respondents), elements of misogyny, networking gaps and how overlooked capabilities stifle confidence and fuel imposter syndrome.
Glass ceilings and glass cliffs
Often mentioned during the survey of 1,000 participants and in the follow-up one-on-one interviews, is the industry’s glass ceiling, and the relatively newly coined “glass cliff” scenarios.
The essay, entitled Breaking barriers: advancing women in insurance, says one explanation for the glass ceiling is the tendency for individuals to associate with, bond with and advocate for co-workers who are like themselves. They say 75 per cent of executives credit their career development to mentoring, but also point out that 71 per cent of sponsors have same-gendered proteges.
“While this isn’t inherently damaging, when 72 per cent of senior vice presidents in the Canadian insurance industry are men, women are less likely to find a mentor who can advance their careers, contributing to why women are kept out of executive positions,” they write. “Building on glass ceiling challenges, even when women are promoted to more senior positions, it’s not in equal measure to the opportunities provided to men. The more recently coined glass cliff purports that women are more likely to fail in leadership positions because they are more often promoted during crises and given less space to make mistakes.”
More likely to be fired
Female leaders, according to the research, are 24 per cent more likely to be fired than their male counterparts; 88 per cent of interviewees also identified parenthood as a roadblock to success.
“Improving representation demands a robust program that recognizes the unique roadblocks women face,” Chowdhury writes. “Modernized policies encouraging balance must be more than a checkbox exercise. If the insurance industry is to attract the best and brightest women leaders, having the best policies will not be enough. A shift to a culture free of gender norms and expectations, one that not only embraces but encourages flexibility, will invite women to contribute at their highest and best capability.”
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