Gender diversity is a must have in the fintech industry, however, event organisers and journalists must ensure they are playing their part as 69 per cent of respondents don’t believe they are doing a good enough job according to The Heard, the women in fintech spokesperson index.
In its first report about understanding attitudes towards public speaking in the industry, The Heard revealed that 23 per cent of women and non-binary people don’t take on public opportunities for fear of appearing arrogant. Therefore, The Heard calls on fintech companies, event organisers, and content creators to prioritise gender diversity through inclusive representation. It suggests that providing targeted training can empower women and non-binary professionals to confidently engage in public speaking opportunities.
Strong diversity is crucial for organisations reveals The Heard as it identifies a potential knock on effect of public representation. In an industry where it is hard to attract diverse talent, the report shows that 84 per cent of respondents would assume a company doesn’t support women very well internally if they only profile male exectuvies in the media or at events. Piling onto the matter, 85 per cent said they would notice when an event line-up didn’t represent women and non-binary people well.
However, organisations that do promote diversity at events and through the media will be able to attract hard to find talent with innovative perspectives that previously may not have considered them.
A win win for employee and firm
Both men and women (94 per cent) agree that public speaking and opportunties have the opportunity to bolster their careers. Not only do they put their name and face out there, but they also can help employees achieve internal objectives with their current employers. According to 52 per cent of respondents, they can help with finding marketing opportunties, secure partnerships and raise the profile of the company’s work.
However, these opportunities are not being taken advantage of equally. The Heard found that 40 per cent of women and non-binary people don’t think of themselves as experts and are consequently shying away from public speaking opportunties. Meanwhile, only 20 per cent of men feel this way.
But even if they wanted to represent their companies, 36 per cent of women and non-binary respondents said they would not know how to secure an opportunity. Furthermore, 20 per cent said they were not sure if they needed permission or were ‘allowed’ to take part in public speaking.
Hesitancy does appear to be a strong factor in this case, and women and non-binary people are also five times more likely to worry about saying something they shouldn’t about their employer than men (two per cent vs 11 per cent).
Overcoming fears for career success
Chantal Swainston, founder of The Heard said: “We know that fintech and financial services is a male dominated field, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t brilliant women and non-binary people working in the industry too. By working a bit harder to bring them into the spotlight, businesses can demonstrate the great diverse talent already in their teams, and in turn, help attract more candidates in the future.
“Public speaking is a universal fear, and the only way to get better is through practice. We should stop expecting people to flip a charisma switch when they reach a certain level of seniority. As an industry, we need to look at speaking training and practice earlier in the career trajectory, which can help employees develop essential soft skills for life, as well as increase the number of positive spokespeople businesses can draw on when opportunities arise.”
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