Despite the number of female brokers increasing a fraction every six months since early 2020, they now represent only 25.4% of the industry – the lowest level since the measure has been tracked by MFAA.
Pushing down the overall proportion of women in broking is the higher number of male brokers employed in the industry over recent years – that and lower retention rates that continually eat into the stream of new female mortgage brokers.
But just what’s driving weak retention of women in broking?
Read more: The odd case of female broker scarcity
The latest MFAA’s Opportunities for Women research cited “an industry culture that is not inclusive of women” as one of the top three barriers. Given that this factor had fallen out of the rankings in 2021 suggested that the positive momentum during the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic may have already faded, as some companies possibly went back to their old ways of doing business.
“Financial services and mortgage broking are decades-old boys’ clubs, and while we’ve certainly seen a great deal of progress, the industry still has a way to go in creating an inclusive and supportive culture that celebrates diversity in all its forms,” said Sally Chadwick, executive manager corporate communications at Mortgage Choice.
Weak retention of female mortgage brokers was perplexing considering the more positive trends seen at the entry points to a broking career.
Mortgage Choice and other large aggregators reported that more than half of new broker recruits last year were women. Other companies, too, reported that the number of new female recruits was increasing at twice the pace of males. In the wider financial industry, banks such as NAB has seen a 50/50 male-to-female graduate intake.
Outside mortgage broking, the situation was certainly better for female finance professionals.
Across the financial and insurance services sector, 53% of employees are female and 42% of management positions are held by women, Workplace Gender Equality Agency data showed.
Compared to the one-in-four benchmark recorded for mortgage brokers, female representation was much higher in banks and non-banks. At OnDeck Australia, women held 38% of roles, up from 28% in mid-2022, with women filling 40% of leadership jobs. NAB has 46% female staff across the group and 37% in senior management. Thinktank has 48% female representation and 41% in management.
What is clear from the sets of data is that new female intakes averaging 50% or more doesn’t translate to equivalent levels as careers progress. With too many reasons for women to depart the finance sector, the bucket is emptying slightly faster than it is being filled at any given time.
“Encouraging women to join the industry as brokers or business owners is one thing, but we also need to focus on creating a positive experience as women build their broking careers,” Chadwick said.
“It’s crucial that aggregators increase organisational awareness of these barriers and consult the women in their own networks to understand the challenges women face and collaborate on interventions and solutions.”
This associated with the issue of unconscious bias, which is consistently considered the main barrier for women in the mortgage and finance broking industry, limiting greater gender diversity.
“The finance sector as a whole needs to be seen to be valuing women in workplace teams,” said Charlene Batson, COO at OnDeck. “This means providing clear opportunities for career progression, encouraging women into leadership roles, and allowing women to have opportunities to be the public face of a finance business.”
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