Women in Finance: Are we mistaking progress for pace?

The latest HM Treasury Women in Finance Charter Review tells a familiar story. Progress is being made, and on the surface, the numbers are encouraging. Women now hold around 36% of senior roles, up from 27% in 2016. Around 80% of firms are meeting or on track to meet their targets, and more than 400 organisations have signed up to the Charter.

All of this points in the right direction. But look more closely and the picture becomes more complicated. Progress is moving at roughly one percentage point per year, which means gender balance at senior levels is still nearly two decades away. In some parts of the industry, progress is even slower, and in a few cases it is starting to stall or slip backwards. It raises an uncomfortable question about whether the financial services industry is mistaking visible progress for meaningful pace.

The Charter has played an important role in shifting the conversation. It has improved transparency, encouraged accountability and prompted firms to take action in ways that might not have happened otherwise. However, there is a growing risk that the industry is becoming comfortable with incremental change. Hitting targets can create the appearance of success, but it does not always reflect meaningful or lasting progress. Organisations are meeting targets without addressing the systems, cultures and behaviours that shape how careers develop.

This becomes particularly clear when you look at where progress starts to break down. The finance sector does not have a pipeline problem at entry. Many firms hire roughly equal numbers of male and female graduates, yet women are not progressing to senior leadership at the same rate. The so-called “missing middle” remains one of the most persistent and under-addressed challenges. At the same time, progress is uneven across the sector.

The ‘missing middle’ was a central motivation behind our four-year ACT research programme. One contributing factor is the “broken rung” in promotions to first-line management. Industry-wide, for every 100 men who are promoted from entry-level to manager, significantly fewer than 100 women are, a pattern observed in large corporate studies. This early disparity compounds over time, snowballing into significant gaps at C-suite level.

Historically, banking has often been seen as the front-runner on gender diversity. More recently, however, insurance has begun to pull ahead. Some of this may be driven by changes in the nature of the industry, including the impact of AI and evolving skill sets. But it is also difficult to ignore the role of leadership. Amanda Blanc’s influence in driving the diversity agenda within insurance is both visible and tangible. At Aviva, for example, half of board members are women, demonstrating what can be achieved when leadership takes a clear and consistent position. Replicating that level of leadership focus across other parts of financial services will be critical if progress is to accelerate.

This points to a wider issue. The industry is no longer operating in a steady, incremental environment. Many organisations are moving beyond business as usual into what has been described as “transformation as usual”, where roles, skills and structures are evolving at pace.

In practice, organisations are redesigning how work gets done, from the rise of AI and data-driven roles to flatter structures and more fluid career paths. But progression frameworks have not kept up. While the industry is transforming quickly, the conditions that shape who progresses are changing much more slowly.

The risk is that, without deliberate intervention, the industry does not just move faster, it repeats the same patterns at speed, embedding existing inequalities into new structures rather than addressing them. Without tackling the conditions that shape progression, including visibility, sponsorship, flexibility and inclusive cultures, the pipeline alone will not solve the problem. These are structural challenges that go beyond incremental change and demand a rethink of how progression actually happens in practice, not just how it is measured.

The review also reinforces the importance of accountability. Firms that link executive remuneration to diversity outcomes tend to move faster and more consistently, underlining the role leadership plays in driving change. Where senior leaders take ownership, progress tends to follow. Where accountability is weaker, progress slows and sometimes stalls altogether. This raises a critical question about whether diversity targets are being used as a genuine lever for transformation, or simply as a way to demonstrate compliance.

After more than a decade of awareness-building, target-setting and framework development, the industry is at a different stage. The next phase requires urgency. This is no longer just about fairness or representation. It is about competitiveness, resilience and long-term performance in an increasingly complex and fast-moving environment. Diversity of thought is not an optional extra; it is a fundamental part of how organisations adapt and succeed.

As progress slows, the importance of sustained, practical support becomes even clearer. Mentoring, sponsorship and community-led initiatives all play a critical role in supporting progression, particularly at the points where careers stall or take unexpected turns. Organisations like Women in Banking & Finance are well placed to bridge the gap between ambition and action, not only by advocating for change, but by creating the structures and support that make that change possible.

Ultimately, the direction of travel is not in doubt. The industry is moving forward, but the pace remains the real challenge. As WIBF CEO Vicky Soden puts it: “If it takes 20 years to get there, we have to ask ourselves – is that progress, or is that complacency?”

That question should sit at the centre of the next phase of this work, because at the current rate, change risks becoming something we measure, rather than something we truly deliver.