Women shunning finance careers

May 16 2011 by Brian Amble Print This Article

Young women in the US are turning their backs on the finance sector despite all the efforts of employers to attract and retain women.

According to an article on Fins.com, between 2001 and 2010 the number of women between the ages of 20 and 34 working in the finance industry fell by 394,000 – some 20% - according to an analysis of data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Fins, a financial news portal, is curiously reticent about exploring too deeply the reasons for this dramatic decline, only suggesting that "Wall Street still hasn't been able to offer much in the way of work-life balance" and that the old-boys club mentality remains tough to break down.

The raft of other reasons for shunning Wall Street is left unsaid – although as one comment puts it, "the current generation of both men and women do not share your workaholism and your careerism. Maybe they know something you don't know; that life is about more than money, power, and prestige."