[WATCH] Women on track to outnumber men in financial sector, bank executives say

The significant gender pay gap which a recent study indicated exists in the financial services sector is not reflected in the situation at Bank of Valletta, where there are increasingly more women in managerial positions than men, the bank's chief financial officer has said.

While a recent study found that the wage discrepancy between males and females in the financial sector was at 23.8% - much higher than the average wage gap of 11% - Bank of Valletta CFO Elvia George said that at the bank, the situation was different, with 51% of managerial roles being occupied by women.

The study, which had been conducted by academic JosAnn Cutajar and corroborated by National Statistics Office figures, had indicated that women in managerial roles are in the vast minority in the financial sector. But George said that women managers outnumber men at the Bank of Valletta.

George was speaking at an event - Women in Business - organised by the bank on Friday on the occasion of Internatinal Women's Day where female entrepreneurs were invited to speak about their experiences in the job market. 

The CFO said that men outnumber women in the financial sector was a situation which was traditionally true, but which was also rapidly changing.

“Traditionally this was a male-dominated sphere, but the reality is changing fast. Between 2013 and 2018, there was a significant increase in women working in the financial sector,” she said.

She added that this was not yet wholly reflected when it came to executive roles, but that even these had been increasing over the years.

The bank's Chief Credit Business Development Officer Albert Frendo said that the gender pay gap wasn't necessarily an issue of discrimination. 

“More women are graduating in this sector and it’s only a matter of time before this new reality is reflected in statistics, and the tradition dissipates,” he said.

“Perhaps I’m an optimist,” Frendo went on to say, “But it’s a question of timing—the amount of women who are starting to work in finance is outnumbering males, and this will eventually close the gender gap.”