Male network still blocking women’s rise in Square Mile

“MEDIOCRE” male managers are still blocking women’s progress through the old school tie network, a report backed by some of the City’s biggest firms said today.

The Women In Banking and Finance study also found smaller firms are missing the target of getting a third of women onto their boards.

The research, backed by institutions including Goldman Sachs, Barclays and Citi, is based on interviews with 79 female City workers by the London School of Economics.

The report says women in financial services need to “sink or swim” with “fewer opportunities to drop the ball” while male counterparts have “more opportunities to survive”.

This was partly due to male-dominated social scenes, as well as career disruption from maternity leave.

It also found male managers tend to “fake empathy” when managing women, recognising the trait has become more valuable.

Companies should embrace flexible working and rethink bonuses, it says.

Grace Lordan of the LSE said it was “much more likely to be average men who ended up being the gatekeepers for younger women coming through.”