It is not easy being the CEO of a bank at the best of times, let alone if you are one of the few women to have attained such a lofty position. For the few women that actually get that far, the top job often comes with increased scrutiny, expectations and pressure to perform. These women are also expected to be ‘lighthouses’ or ‘beacons’, showing the path to the top for the women at lower levels who aspire to the role of CEO.
But these beacons are in short supply. According to the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum’s 2022 Gender Balance Index, while the proportion of female CEOs at commercial banks increased from 6% to 14%. This means that just 46 of the 335 institutions (central banks, commercial banks, public pension funds and sovereign wealth funds) it ranks are run by women.