In the wake of International Women’s Day yesterday, a global recruiting firm says that although progress is being made, gender diversity in the workplace remains a critical business issue.
In a global survey conducted by Hays, released for International Women’s Day, 21% of men compared to 48% of women do not believe that the same career opportunities are available to all.
When it comes to the broking industry, MPA’s 2014 Top 100 list highlights that gender diversity in the mortgage broking workplace still has room for improvement.
Only nine female brokers made MPA’s Top 100 list last year, which is even fewer than 2013, when 16 female brokers made the list. Only one female broker, Kellie Lam of Abacus Home Loans, placed in the top 10 in 2014 – where she placed 10th.
However, the survey by Hays also revealed almost one in two (44%) of the survey respondents say that more flexible working practices would have the biggest impact on improving gender diversity in their workplace.
When
Australian Broker attended the
MFAA’s Women in Mortgage Broking Networking (WIMBN) event last year, the event’s headline speaker and winner of the
MFAA’s Mortgage Credit Adviser of the Year Award in 2014 said mortgage broking offers great flexibility and is starting to attract more women.
“Women are really good at talking to women, and women are now predominantly the decision maker in the household. So coming through, you are seeing a lot more younger brokers and females who want to control their own destiny and have really good work/life balance,” said Melissa Gielnik, director of Smart Lending.
“I really think I have a great work/life balance and it is because of the job that I do. The type of transactions that we do, it doesn’t need to be 9 to 5 in an office.”
