Royal Bank of Scotland: Investing in Women

by Girl Banker
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When it comes to including women in their business, some investment banks are more serious than others; RBS is on the more serious side. 

I just met up with the Jessica Chu the Global Director of Diversity and Inclusion for Markets and International Banking (M&IB) at RBS; she explained their current views on women in banking and all the initiatives that they have in place to try to reach 50:50 at the graduate level.

This is a hard goal to achieve. For one thing, very few women apply. In the 5 years that I spent on a derivatives desk, I can only think of a handful of women ever applying whilst we were inundated with job requests from guys.

Indeed, the current trend across the industry is that a lot of women might come in but as they reach the Vice President (VP) level their numbers start declining rapidly. The reasons are manifold but a key one is obviously having children and going for a lifestyle that allows for more flexibility to fit in childcare. 

To cater to the problem of retaining and motivating women, RBS has created an internal network, Compass, with the support of M&IB CEO John Hourican. The network aims to support women through their career by meeting, sharing ideas and implementing those strategies that foster a flexible and inclusive workplace.

What's more, RBS are currently contemplating donating copies of To Become an Investment Banker to target schools. 

You can read more on how RBS is investing in women here and you can apply to RBS here.

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