Gender on wall street uncovering opportunities for women in financial services

LAURA MATTIA PHD, CFP® GENDER ON WALL STREET UNCOVERING OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN IN FINANCIAL SERVICES Gender on Wall Street Laura Mattia Gender on Wall Street Uncovering Opportunities for Women in Financial Services Laura Mattia Muma College of Business University of South Florida Tampa, FL, USA ISBN 978-3-319-75549-6 ISBN 978-3-319-75550-2  (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75550-2 Library of Congress Control Number: 2018934629 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2018 This work is subject to copyright All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations Cover credit: Spencer Platt/Staff/Getty Images Cover design: Ran Shauli Printed on acid-free paper This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer International Publishing AG part of Springer Nature The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland To my daughters Alexandra and Leamarie whose STAR power inspires and motivates me And to my husband, Mark, for his everlasting support and my sons Christopher and Kyle for their encouragement I am forever grateful Contents 1 Introduction 1 Part I  The Opportunity for Women The Rewards of a Career in Finance  13 The Win for Financial Services  23 The Power of Your Beliefs  39 The Magic of Self-Confidence  53 Part II  The Gender-Specific Challenges The Prevalence of Unconscious Bias  65 The Gender Trap  81 The Pain of Isolation  93 The Fragility of the Female Network 101 vii viii  Contents Part III  The STAR Plan 10 Strategic Framework—Build Your Brand  117 11 Technical Skills—Fortify Your Brand 133 12 Advocacy Circle—Develop Your Brand 149 13 Relationships—Share Your Brand 165 Conclusion 179 Index 183 List of Figures Fig. 2.1 Fig. 3.1 The financial planning and decision making processes  18 Key gender differences (Source Kingsbury, Kathleen Burns How to give financial advice to women: Attracting and retaining high-net-worth female clients New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies, 2013 Print)  33 Fig. 8.1 Maslow’s hierarchy of needs in the workplace  95 Fig. 10.1 The STAR plan: your strategic career plan  120 ix CHAPTER 1 Introduction This book is about creating your story, which starts by answering the following question: What I choose to next? Many people struggle in life until they realize that life, on its own, has no inherent meaning We give our lives meaning by the vision that we set, the choices we make, the obstacles we overcome, and the rewards we reap through our experiences Often though, we hold onto experiences or expectations that get in the way of the life we’re trying to create We interpret certain situations in a way that makes us angry or anxious, which can affect our behavior and our potential for success Those negative interactions can damage our self-confidence to the degree that we feel compelled to give up Part of creating your story comes from knowing what is relevant and important to you and the reality of what it takes to be in charge of your own life I was able to create a story which inspires me, and my hope is that you will be able to create your own inspirational story It starts by: • Understanding that negative experiences or people you encounter have nothing to with you Don’t hold onto the negativity and don’t internalize it • Whatever happened is the past (even if it happened five minutes ago) Embrace the fact that you get to decide what’s next • Choose a path that supports your personal values and vision for your life and your career Your values are the foundation of a strategic career plan This book is organized into three sections to help you effectively become a female financial star by developing: 1. A vision of your life and career which focuses on the opportunity for women in financial services © The Author(s) 2018 L Mattia, Gender on Wall Street, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75550-2_1 2  L Mattia 2. An awareness and understanding of gender-specific challenges so you can avoid or reduce threats to your career goals 3. A strategic mind-set using the STAR process to create a personal career plan Why I think this is important enough to write about it? I’ve been there I’ve struggled in the trenches of the financial world—as a woman—to build a career and a reputation for myself I’ve seen what goes on and how people treat each other In response to workplace realities, I’ve developed a winning formula for success because I want to see other women succeed Life on Mars Growing up with artists for parents, my family never had money I started working full time at sixteen Somehow, I convinced my high school to let me leave at 12:30 every day so I could work an eight-hour shift at Sears Although Sears offered a management track in lieu of college, I declined Instead, I chose college and worked as a cocktail waitress/bartender to pay for my tuition After graduating with a degree in psychology, I worked for People Express Airlines as a customer service manager and was promoted to team leader Before graduating from business school, I had already worked for thirteen years full time where hard work was appreciated and the idea of meritocracy was reinforced Because of my prior work experience, I was not prepared for what happened next, upon graduating from business school with an MBA I was hired as a cost accounting manager at M&M/Mars in the Hackettstown, NJ plant Everyone told me how hard it was to get into the company and how fortunate I was The recruiter said that even though it was a large company, the staff was treated like family Employees were expected to work hard but they were highly compensated, and the benefits were beyond what most companies offered in 1990 The company maintained a generous defined benefit plan that guaranteed income in retirement The overall compensation package created a competitive workforce, which was made up of people from all over the world Many people inside the “family” were proud to call themselves “Martians.” I didn’t just enter an international manufacturing/marketing behemoth; I entered a position in finance within that environment I soon learned the position was just as coveted as a position at Goldman Sachs or any of the major New York firms Many finance professionals made the conscious decision to work at Mars over Wall Street On my first day, I arrived early and immediately went to get changed We had to wear whites because we spent time on the manufacturing floor As a cost accountant, it was my job to understand the manufacturing process and how it drove the cost of the product .. .Gender on Wall Street Laura Mattia Gender on Wall Street Uncovering Opportunities for Women in Financial Services Laura Mattia Muma College of Business University of South... challenges for women within the financial services environment are highlighted in this book.) The financial industry was created before women participated in financial matters and consisted of... more women financial advisors could be related to the leadership at the top in the financial services industry Again, financial services include a broad range of business models In the banking