For Current Analysts: Effect of Minority Status in IBD
I was wondering what the climate is typically like for minorities on Wall Street doing IBD at BB banks. Are there generally affinity groups at each bank to allow individuals of a certain ethnic background to connect?
Also, do people look down on minorities? If someone identifies with a particular ethnicity but doesn't necessarily look like they belong to the group, is it perhaps better for them not to reveal their heritage openly? Is it disadvantageous to do so? Could they be looked down upon and judged detrimentally?
I just wanted to get a sense for the feeling on the street. Feel free to e-mail me at [email protected]
Thank you, I appreciate any advice.
There are thousands of minorities working on the wall street (different national origins, skin colors, religions etc). people judge you not by where you come from but what u bring to the table..if go go into an ibanking job feeling like a victim, you probably will be victimized...Have a positive attitude, look everyone in the eye, do your best at work and don't take shit.
There are groups within the investment banking community that allow people to connect with one another. I know Lehman has a couple of employee networks for both Latinos and African Americans. Even so, there are global networks that cater specifically to certain ethnic groups (PM me if you're interested about some).
People in general? Or the financial community in general? In both cases, nobody looks down on anybody else. Like the above poster said, they only care about what your product is when you are at work (not where you're from or what school you went to).
I think it's a good conversation piece to talk about your heritage because that's the beauty of diversity. If you hold back on too many details on your life (read: not open up to people at work and share your interests) you'll look like some sort of weirdo... It'd not disadvantageous, just play your cards right and use your common sense. You should be fine...
I'm at one of the most-diverse BB firms and I hardly see any visually distinct non-Asian minorities (especially at the senior levels). There are a number of minority candidates at the very junior levels, but I have the feeling that they are diversity hires and get weeded out pretty quickly. Even at the intern level, there are maybe 10 black candidates out of 90 total candidates, and I feel that less than 10% of FT analysts are black.
This is only for banking. There are tons of non-Asian minorities working in non-banking roles - support staff, HR, laborers, etc. Maybe the bank hires these minorities specifically to win the numerous diversity awards that it holds.
Most of this is true. Although why would you expect blacks to be more represented in banking than they are in the general population? Last stat I saw said they were only 12% of the general population, so I really wouldn't expect 30% of Wall Street to be black.
In general, tons of diversity, especially at the jr. levels.
Yeah, but I really don't think they are 12% of the Wall Street population. In fact, at the front-office senior levels, I'd put the number at 3-4%. Or less. Despite significant outreach efforts.
anyone watch that episode of Wayans brother where Shawn gets hired to sharpen pencils all day? LOL
They are definitely sought after during entry-level analyst recruitment, but I don't see very many non-Asian minorities at higher levels in finance. Even at the consultancy I interned at, there were a ton of Indians and Asians at the top level, but less than a handful of Latinos and Blacks. At my PE firm, we have one black employee. That's it.
That said, Wall Street is INCREDIBLY diverse in terms of background and nationality. There are people from EVERYWHERE. In fact, I think I met more Africans than African-Americans.
No-one looks down upon minorities. More than half the working population and a substantial part of the leadership is minority. Stan O'Neal was black and Vikram Pandit is Indian. Firms are looking for talent, not skin color.
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