Morningstar - Q4 2021 - 19

treatment, it's seen as overly sensitive or
inaccurate because that culture had existed with
previous women in the mix. I'd like to always
respect the decisions others make in order
to succeed amidst discrimination, but at times,
their approach has invalidated my requests
for change. "
Networking in a Man's World
A good network is an unmatchable asset
in finance, but building one as a woman requires
constant calculations about personal safety,
other people's perceptions, and whether any one
event or relationship is worth the risk.
For a woman building her network, many of the
traditional avenues include a variety of challenges:
Happy Hours and Networking Mixers
Going to an event with alcohol means taking a
calculated risk about the possibilities of:
gMale attendees confusing your presence
at a professional networking event that happens
to be at a bar with seeking a romantic or
sexual relationship.
gSomeone drugging your drink or " joking " about
drugging your drink. (The " joke " isn't funny-
in fact, it's threatening and scary.)
gCoworkers getting the impression that you
are fraternizing too much (for a woman) or that
you're using your identity as a woman to
get ahead (the " sleep your way to the top " trope).
Golf
Golf is often seen as a sport with close ties to
doing business. But it has historically been-
and still is-dominated by men, and it is often
associated with clubs that don't admit
women (along with other discriminatory policies).
Pine Valley, a century-old golf club that
has the top-ranked golf course in the United
States, decided only this year to admit
women as members.
Dining Out
When I worked in a position that included meeting
with wholesalers and other sales representatives,
I was always hesitant to accept offers from male
sales reps to meet over a meal for fear they
would consider the business engagement a date.
There's also a fear that others will see you and
determine that your relationship is " inappropriate. "
A colleague once reported me to my boss
because they saw me having lunch with a man
who wasn't my husband. Other women have
shared similar stories with me.
Texting
Even something as seemingly innocuous
as a change in communication method must be
approached carefully. Another survey respondent,
Rachel Cameron, noted, " Mentors of mine say the
best way to build relationships is through
iMessage versus email. It can be awkward to text
male counterparts in the same way men can
with each other. I have trusted male relationships,
but it's not something I can freely do with
everyone. It takes a lot longer to build trust before
moving to iMessage. "
The Bodies We Live In
I could write an entire book about the issues
we have to consider in relationship to our physical
bodies. I wish I could quantify the amount
of mental energy these thoughts drain from our
ability to do thoughtful and creative work. My
guess is that it's anywhere from 5% to 25%
of most women's daily brainpower. The pressure
has been much less in the last year, with
such limited in-person interaction, but I can feel it
creeping back now.
Age
When I was young, I knew I needed to look
older to get the respect I deserved. I had
fake glasses, wore suits, and did anything I could
to look older in hopes of not having my young
appearance work against me. On the flip
side, older women often report feeling invisible or
being dismissed as irrelevant, even as older
men climb the corporate ladder. There's an
" acceptable " window of not too young, yet not too
old, and it feels very narrow. Of course, I
don't agree that there should be an age window,
but I know it is there.
Dress
At many finance offices, there's either a stated
or understood dress code that means women
morningstar.com/lp/magazine
19
should look professional but not manly, attractive
but not sexy, with nails polished but not in
bright colors, heels always but not too high, and
skirts preferable but not too short. This is found
even in smaller, more casual offices, but for
women who spent the formative years of their
careers in a big firm, we are trained to selfpolice
our appearance for the benefit of other
people. For example, on my first day at one
job, a supervisor told me to dress nicely: " Wear
high heels. But not snakeskin heels. Never
snakeskin. Also, no open-toe shoes. And not too
high of a heel because...you know what
that looks like. " For reference, he mostly wore
athletic shoes.
Weight
As with age, there is a narrow window
of acceptability in body shape. There's constant
pressure to be thin but not skinny and fit
but not bulky. This attention to women's body
shapes is not exclusive to finance; it is a
cultural norm in the U.S. But I would argue it's
additionally pronounced in finance and
even more so higher up on the executive ladder.
Leanna Orr, former deputy editor of
Institutional Investor, shared, " I once hosted
a roundtable to interview five C-suite
asset-management women. Every single one
was tiny and in wicked good shape, like
top fifth percentile of women. Table stakes if
you're female. "
There are other categories that I didn't
cover here, but the common theme in all of these
challenges is that they take away from
our ability to do our best work. Women want to
be able to work and network safely, be
ourselves, have our voices and ideas celebrated,
and be rewarded for our excellent work. K
Sonya Dreizler is a speaker, author, and consultant
focused on fostering candid conversations about
gender and race in financial services. The author is a
freelance contributor to Morningstar. The views
expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the
views of Morningstar.
https://www.morningstar.com/authors/2396/sonya-dreizler http://www.morningstar.com/lp/magazine
Morningstar - Q4 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Morningstar - Q4 2021
