Unconscious bias training necessary to address industry gender divide: panel

The chief investment officer of Harbourfront Wealth Management says there have been countless times when people assumed she was in a lower rank in the finance industry simply because of her gender.

“I don’t know how many times I’ve walked into a room and people assume I’m a salesperson,” Theresa Shutt said, speaking during an inaugural panel entitled “Women Exploring Wealth,” held in Toronto on Wednesday.

“And then when I say, ‘Hey, I’m the CIO,’ one guy actually said to me, ‘Good for you.’ I thought he was gonna pat me on the head. It was so insulting.”

With few women climbing corporate ladders at financial institutions and women making up just 15%–20% of total financial advisors in North America, it’s not uncommon for people to hold these types of assumptions. To counter these stereotypes and the gender divide in the finance industry, Shutt and her fellow panellists spoke about the importance of unconscious bias training at financial institutions.

“The unconscious bias [training] is far more important than some of these other programs [for women], because there’s a lot of … men that think they’re feminists and they’re fundamentally not,” Shutt said.

Leila Fiouzi, senior investment counsellor with RBC Phillips, Hager & North Investment Counsel Inc., said her financial institution started unconscious bias training years ago and that it’s helped shine a light on the biases that seep into hiring practices.

“It is interesting how often you see people hire in their own image,” she said. “If a particular industry is predominantly in one image, you’re just going to continue to see them hire in their own image.”

Fiouzi added that merit is often overlooked due to unconscious bias.

“So if you have two candidates that are equally good, are you going to hire a person that looks kind of like you and maybe has the same socioeconomic background, or is a member at the same golf club?” she said.

“Or are you going to hire this person who is equally as good, but just has a really different background, and maybe that background will actually bring something new to your business?”

Kelli Costigan, senior portfolio manager with MD Private Investment Counsel, said she’s seen her share of unconscious bias working in finance.

But Costigan said she would still urge women to seek out programs meant to empower women in the industry, and where those programs don’t exist, to start them.

“Get a group of five people together and start and meet. Go for coffee, go for lunch and start to talk to each other, and then build and build and build,” she said.

Advice for women

The panellists offered additional advice to young women in the industry.

For one, Costigan said it pays off to be an optimist and to surround yourself with supportive people.

She recalled a time when she was in her 20s and asked her manager at the time, who was woman, for help, only to be told, “If you can’t find that, you’re not going to make it.”

From that day forward, Costigan said she promised herself to be a mentor to those around her and “to never make a woman — or anybody — feel that way.”

“It’s important for you to surround yourself with people who really care about you and want you to be successful,” she added.

Fiouzi encouraged women to stop aiming for perfection at work because it will set them back while their male counterparts will likely have moved on to another project, made a new connection or achieved a new milestone.

“As women, I don’t know if it’s nature or society, but to generalize, I think we try to be perfectionists. We try to be people pleasers,” she said.

“I’m not saying do a bad job, but I would say maybe look around you and notice that the other 50% is not aiming for 100%.”

In a similar vein, Oricia Smith, president of Sun Life Global Investments, encouraged women to ask for help when they need it.

Smith noted that Sun Life did some research and found that male advisors tend to build teams to support them and typically become successful much faster than women advisors, who tend to try to do everything on their own.

“It is not a weakness to ask for help. It’s not a weakness to pull a bunch of people around you to help you get something done. That’s actually a strength and that’s leadership,” she said.

Smith also recommended fostering connections in the industry and to not take anything personally when things don’t work out the way you’d hoped.

One of Shutt’s tips was to be vocal, especially in boardrooms.

“What you find is in a boardroom, women talk probably 70% less than men. We think we talk as much as 50% — we do not. So, speak loud, speak often, claim your successes,” she said.

“Yes, you got to be a team member or whatever. But know that you’re continually building your profile. You’re always building your reputation.”

Sarah Bull, managing partner and portfolio manager with KJ Harrison Investors, who moderated the panel, also reminded women that there’s a lot of opportunity for them to break into the finance industry, and in wealth management in particular, which is expected to see women manage more than $4 trillion of wealth in Canada by 2028.

“When I reflect on my own career, I started in the industry in the early ‘90s, in 1994, and it’s clear that we’ve come a long way since then,” she said.

Shutt also expressed optimism about the progress that’s been made over the past few decades and the work that’s being done now.

“There’s tons of stories about things that I think were demoralizing at the time, and I still think we haven’t changed it, but you know, at least we’re talking about it.”