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| DELIVERING ON DIVERSITY, GENDER EQUALITY, AND INCLUSION | | | In this issue, we look at how the North American financial-services industry stacks up when it comes to women’s representation—and at how leaders worldwide can address the stigma surrounding mental health. | | | | Eighty percent—that’s how much the representation of Black, Latina, and Asian women falls from the entry level to the C-suite at financial-services companies in the US and Canada, according to McKinsey’s latest look at representation in the industry. Women have made notable gains in the past few years, but White men still make up nearly two-thirds of C-suite executives at the financial-services firms in this year’s Women in the Workplace study, conducted in partnership with LeanIn.org. | | At the entry level, women account for about half of the financial-industry workforce, but their representation falls off at every step of the corporate pipeline. Here’s a stat to sit with: women of color make up just 4 percent of industry C-suite executives (for comparison, Black, Latina, and Asian women make up about one-fifth of the total US population). | | One way financial-services companies can boost women’s representation across the corporate pipeline: requiring diversity among the internal candidates considered for promotions. While most American companies require diverse slates of similarly qualified candidates in their hiring processes, less than a quarter of companies apply such policies as they look to advance employees internally. | | That’s a point that holds not just for financial-services companies but also for organizations across industries and sectors: with more diverse slates, a more diverse set of employees will have a fair shot at rising up the ranks. | | | We can start by talking about it: during the COVID-19 pandemic, the prevalence of anxiety and depression doubled in a number of countries worldwide. In the US, more than 30 percent of adults are currently reporting symptoms of these mental-health issues; remarkably, this figure includes almost half of all adults under 30. | | Supporting employees’ mental health is more important than ever, but stigma often stands in the way. Most US employers and employees surveyed by McKinsey feel that mental-health stigma persists in the workplace—yet fewer than one in five employers say that reducing stigma is a top behavioral-health priority, and last year less than a quarter of employers conducted an antistigma campaign within their organization. | | Tackling the stigma around mental-health conditions is crucial to ensuring that employees are able to access care. Among other measures, leaders can help change company culture by speaking openly about their own mental-health challenges. At the same time, digital tools can provide employees with more comfortable ways to engage; therapy and meditation apps, for example, offer both convenience and the ability to remain anonymous. | | Ultimately, the goal is for employees across the organization to be able to discuss mental health without shame or fear. In the words of Garen Staglin, chairman and cofounder of the nonprofit One Mind, “Brain health is a spectrum—and we are all on it.” | | — Edited by Gwyn Herbein, an assistant managing editor in McKinsey’s Atlanta office |
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