As we look ahead to International Women’s Day (IWD) on Saturday, we’re grateful to Silvia Amoros (pictured), Senior Partner & Co-Head of Banking & Markets (EMEA) at Davies, for highlighting just some of the ways in which the financial services profession can – and should – work smarter to build a more equitable environment where everyone can thrive.
There’s nothing more frustrating than performing at your best, only to watch others – who may have the same or even fewer qualifications and experience – advance much more quickly. Unfortunately, this is the reality many women in the FS sector face today.
Let’s not beat around the bush – women continue to struggle to advance their careers at the same rate as men. This is compounded by the fact that work-life balance remains undervalued across the industry, making progression a more difficult task for women, who are largely still expected to shoulder a disproportionate share of responsibilities at home.
As a result, whether it be in the form of equal pay or equal opportunity, women who are armed with the same (if not more) skills and experience than their male counterparts continue to be overlooked in the industry. This is particularly true of senior leadership positions, where the disparities of the entire workforce are most obviously writ large.
According to the most recent Women in Finance Charter report, for example, nearly three quarters (77%) of the Charter’s signatories say they have increased their proportion of women in senior management positions, yet average senior female representation remains at 35%. Meanwhile, in the business world more widely, women accounted for a rather measly 10.4% (52) of CEOs of Fortune 500 companies in 2024.
These figures are a stark reminder of the scale of the challenge that remains at hand.
Firms need to move beyond quotas
While progress is happening, it remains too slow and uneven. Over the years, diversity initiatives and quotas have increased representation, acting as a valuable tool for initiating change. However, they alone cannot trigger the deeper cultural and structural shift that needs to occur. Gender equality is about creating an inclusive culture, whereby gender is not a factor when making business decisions or selecting leadership roles.
I recognise that this may be seen as a controversial point – the last decade or so has been dominated by the importance of quotas. However, if we imagine the issue of gender equality as a large ship that was once heading in the wrong direction, quotas have helped turn the ship around. Now, the sector needs to counter-steer and ensure the ship can continue moving sustainably on the right course.
Indeed, there’s a danger that quotas could become entrenched. This means that progress is driven by a tick-box approach, which doesn’t solve the issue for the long-term future, and could be creating new challenges for women to contend with.
The challenges still facing women in FS
For instance, there’s a growing perception that women are only being promoted or hired to meet diversity targets, which completely undermines their achievements, as well as perpetuating harmful stereotypes. The tokenism of the quota-based approached to diversity effectively results in women feeling that their skills and expertise are not valued in the same way as their male colleagues, diminishing their confidence and morale.
In other words, it’s taken us back to square one, whereby invisible barriers – which manifest themselves in subtle biases, stereotypes and systemic obstacles – still prevent women from reaching higher positions of power and influence, even when they are equally or more qualified than their male counterparts.
In addition, women are still expected to balance home life responsibilities, which are frequently undervalued or dismissed in the workplace. There’s no doubt that the workplace has become more flexible, but this has largely been brought on by a pandemic that impacted both men and women. A similar reconstitution of flexibility needs to occur when it comes to underlying attitudes towards women who take on caregiving roles, whether it be raising children, caring for relatives or managing a household.
Addressing these challenges
At Davies, we are confronting these challenges as best we can, and our Women’s Employee Resource Group (ERG) is something that I’m particularly proud of.
In my role as Senior Partner & Co-Head of Banking & Markets (EMEA), I’m very aware of the importance of a diverse workforce. But I equally understand that leadership selections must be driven by merit and capability – not gender – if we are to instil equality.
Therefore, as an industry, we must remove unconscious bias and unrealistic expectations that could inadvertently exclude women, ensuring a fair and inclusive hiring or promotion process. This approach guarantees that the best talent is in place to drive innovation and enrich our discussions with diverse perspectives.
Building transparent career pathways
What’s more, transparent career pathways that challenge outdated perceptions of leadership or career advancement must be implemented. It shouldn’t matter that someone takes time off work to raise their child; their skills and experience remain in place, and we should be welcoming individuals from diverse backgrounds or non-linear career paths.
By creating clear and accessible pathways for advancement, women can understand exactly what steps they need to take to grow within the company and can express their proficiency in a wider variety of leadership qualities, such as collaboration or emotional intelligence.
Encouraging mentorship
To support this, mentorship and representation at senior levels are essential for advancing women’s careers in financial services. As the saying goes, ‘you can’t be what you can’t see’. So, it’s important that women that do excel in their firms understand that they have a responsibility to share their insights, challenge outdated norms, and inspire confidence, thereby dismantling barriers that have historically held women back.
Implementing flexible work policies
Finally, fostering flexibility in work policies is increasingly important, both from a talent retention and career advancement perspective. Whether its flexible work hours or the option to work remotely, women must be given the chance to better balance their personal and professional lives, particularly if they take on caregiving responsibilities or choose to pursue additional qualifications.
The future is brighter when women are empowered to perform at their best
In turn, this will create an environment where women feel better supported and valued, empowering them to perform at their best and advance their career without any constraints. This will improve productivity for a significant section of the workforce, ultimately ensuring that businesses can continue to grow and expand.
To briefly conclude, women are already playing a vital role in the success of the FS industry, so the potential for success once gender parity has been achieved is endless. International Women’s Day serves as a welcome reminder that transparent career pathways, flexible work policies, and leadership opportunities based on merit that remove any remaining unconscious bias are essential to building a truly equitable sector.
As we look to the future, I hope that equality will no longer be seen as an aspirational goal or a corporate policy. Together, we have the opportunity to make it an industry standard. While this work should have started a long time ago, it’s time for us to recommit and take action today.
About Silvia Amoros
Silvia Amoros is a senior partner at Davies, leading global operations, finance, and transformation consulting, with a focus on delivering end-to-end value propositions to clients. She is a specialist Front Office, Operations and Client Lifecycle Management specialist, with proven subject matter expertise and system implementation capabilities delivering operating models for global banks that adapt to dynamic change and are sustainable.
Beyond her professional responsibilities, Silvia serves as the Group-level Women’s Network ERG lead, championing diversity and inclusion within the organization. In her personal life, Silvia is a family person raised with 5 siblings and is now a loving mother of three children (6y, 4y, 1y). She loves sports, travelling, meeting new people and pushing herself out of her comfort zone. She speaks Spanish, English and conversational French.
