Women in Finance Struggles…

Dear WSO community, 

I understand that most men here will not relate to what we are going through as women. I thought I was the only one but after seeing the post where BNP paribas cut womens’ bonuses to pay men more I realized that there really seems to be a lot of inequality and discrimination against women. Recently Ive been trying to recruit but I see most companies prefer to hire men, teams are either 100% male or maybe theres 1-2 women. Im really losing hope of finding a job as a woman :(. 

15 Comments
 

Please, throw more. Lets make this problem seen worldwide so that finally firms will treat women equally and have a better male/female ratio, equal pay and equal rights for women 👏

 

For those throwing 💩 accusing my post of being “low quality”, “inaccurate” etc. let me post all the proof, statistics, articles … so and hopefully this will be extremely helpful AND high quality 

 
Most Helpful

All I’ll say is this… I often see candidates from ethnic backgrounds take the most crap on WSO for being auto hires (which I believe is largely racist and false from my lived experience in PE). There are simply fewer resumes from minority and women candidates in general for structural reasons in society we don’t need to get into.
 

But, we are directly told from our recruiting lead at my PE firm to move forward female candidates to final rounds with mid backgrounds (at best) and without asking any technical questions. Whether you believe it’s right or not (although I think it is because of the existing imbalance), that actually happens. I haven’t seen this for any other minority group (Hispanic, black, Pacific Islander, Asian, etc.). So, I really don’t want to hear about unfair practices tbh. It’s 2024, women are given every opportunity to succeed in the financial world, so please stop with these wildly inflammatory posts trying to spark a reaction.

 

I dont know about your firm but Ive done many interviews and there are always technical questions and fin model test.

I didn’t post this to start any “reaction” yet what I got is shit thrown at my post for no good reason. 
 

 

For what it’s worth, it’s a very difficult hiring market right now. Starting from the associate level (which usually has the most seats) and up. Anything above associate level is even more challenging because people who already VPs don’t turn their seats as often as juniors.

You might feel like it’s because you are a female but I’m pretty sure that’s not the case. I have white men with MBAs from HSW and with PE experience who are looking for PE jobs post-MBA.

The common denominator is there is more competition for less seats.

 

Thanks for following me all the way to my page. How about instead you go and say this to your HR instead of hiding behind some username on a site where nobody gives a shit about your judgmental nonsensical opinion? 
 

let me know how your HR responds to your skewed sexist statistics :) , probably you will reconsider your views

 

Actually I’m curious - is your post a rant? Or are you making the argument firms are discriminating against women in the hiring process because you can’t find a job? Or is it more that you’re struggling to find a job and reading articles like that about BNP makes you lose hope. And maybe your mind wanders about how messed up the industry could potentially be?

Yeah most teams are male dominated. That’s the way the industry is. The same way education or nursing is female dominated. I’m sure the “boys club” exists in some places or there are some losers who have internalized some idea that women aren’t as good. But the very vast majority of people especially in institutionalized places, don’t give a shit about your gender or anything. They only care whether you are good or not. 
 

Even if the sexism existed, is it going to stop you from recruiting? Probably not right? I’m not saying that makes it ok (it’s fucked up if true). All I’m saying is that from your perspective - you should focus on applying and doing your best. You’ll land something soon. Whether recruiting is harder or not purely because of your gender, isn’t going to change your action plan. So just keep at it and good luck!

 

Iste enim eligendi nisi ut nemo. Qui consequatur consectetur quas exercitationem laudantium omnis. Quia alias ea minus libero. Et aut enim et temporibus repellendus. Sint labore dolores temporibus exercitationem maxime sunt. Quas dolorem quae magnam impedit non voluptates voluptatem.

Officia natus optio qui porro delectus est aliquid. Voluptates perspiciatis veniam sunt nemo dolores amet dolorum. Sed rerum laborum ut. Pariatur aut sit omnis sint ab dolores quia. Quia numquam libero rerum saepe iure dolore quis et. Consequatur inventore ipsum exercitationem culpa quidem at odit. Perspiciatis autem corrupti odio nam ducimus ipsa aut. Asperiores velit ut qui distinctio quasi rerum.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.2%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.2%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.6%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.2%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (43) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (75) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (67) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
10
Linda Abraham's picture
Linda Abraham
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”