In 2021, the share of female employees in the total workforce of most leading U.S. banks was more than 50 percent. Among the observed banks, Truist and TD Bank had the highest share of female employees in terms of the total workforce, at 62.9 and 61 percent, respectively. The lowest share of female employees was seen at State Street Corporation and Morgan Stanley, where the share of women was 39.9 and 39.7 percent, respectively.
Gender diversity: Total workforce vs. senior management
The relatively high share of female employees in the total workforce of leading U.S. banks may show gender diversity in a good light, but the devil is in the details. The share of female executives and senior level officials and managers in the largest U.S. banks was significantly lower in 2021. The relatively low share of female executives and senior managers in banks is not unique. In numerous other industries, the share of women employed on executive and senior levels tends to be lower than the share of women in the total workforce.
Global gender gap index
There has been a gradually increasing focus on gender equality in recent years. The global gender gap index was first introduced by the World Economic Forum in 2006 to measure the gender-based gaps among four key dimensions (economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and surivival, and political empowerment), and to track the progress of closing these gaps. Based on the four dimensions, the index scores each country between zero and one. In 2021, Europe held seven spotsin the top ten, while the United States ranked 30th.
