Publication: The Leadership Gender Gap in Banking: Insights from Ethiopia
Date
2022
ISSN
Published
2022
Author(s)
Weis, Toni Johannes
Rawlins, Marlon Rolston
Tumtu, Kenno Itana
Coleman, Rachel Dawn
Abstract
The global banking industry has a
well-known and well-documented leadership gender gap. The
financial sector is a popular career choice for women, yet
their representation drops precipitously at the higher rungs
of the career ladder. An IMF study thus estimates that only
two percent of banking CEOs are globally females. This EFI
Note adds to the literature on gender in the financial
sector by providing a first assessment of the gender
leadership gap in the Ethiopian banking industry. The
authors conducted structured interviews with senior
management in each institution and collected human resource
(HR) data to examine the gender composition of the workforce
across different functions and levels of seniority, and to
understand processes for recruitment, promotion, and
leadership appointments. High-level data was also collected
from publicly available source. on each of the remaining
commercial bank. A second round of data collection in the
form of a staff survey with experimental elements is
currently underway. Among other things, it will allow for a
more detailed analysis of ‘supply-side’ factors such as
gender differences in attitudes and ambition. The remainder
of this EFI Note is divided into two parts. Section 2 looks
at HR outcomes, summarizing the evidence on the gender gap
in financial sector careers globally before offering key
statistics from the Ethiopian banking industry. Section 3
then looks at some of the HR processes behind these
outcomes, outlining differences between male and female
staff both in the early stages of their careers (recruitment
and choice of functional area) and at later points in time
(career progression and leadership selection).
Citation
“Weis, Toni Johannes; Rawlins, Marlon Rolston; Tumtu, Kenno Itana; Coleman, Rachel Dawn. 2022. The Leadership Gender Gap in Banking : Insights from Ethiopia. Equitable Growth, Finance and Institutions Insight - Finance;. © Washington, DC: World Bank. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/38389 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”