Half of women in private equity considering leaving industry, survey says

Half of women working in private equity would consider leaving the industry compared to 22 per cent of men, new research into diversity in the workplace has found.

When asked whether they are considering leaving their firm in the next two years, 33 per cent of women said they were, however, only 19 per cent of men agreed, the Investec GP Trends report said. 

Almost 50 per cent of women also believe there has been little or no change in their firm’s attitude towards diversity in the last two years.

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However, respondents to the study, which surveyed 289 private equity professionals, said firms were trying harder to bridge the gender gap at work.

When asked whether their firm considers diversity and equal opportunities to be important, a total of 61 per cent of women said their firms do.

“The lack of female representation in private equity cannot be disputed, but the industry is moving in the right direction,” Deborah Sayagh, banker to private equity professionals at Investec Private Bank said.

“Take, for example, initiatives such as Blackstone Group’s Future Women Leaders Programme which has had a positive impact in doubling the number of female applicants for its analytics division.

“However, the journey does not stop there; the real challenge is to ensure that these women stay in private equity and build successful careers.

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“Our research clearly indicates that not only is there a lot more work to be done to reach gender parity, but that there also needs to be greater emphasis on the rate of change.”

Institutional Limited Partners Association managing director for industry affairs Jennifer Choi said: “Interest in gender equality is not driven by the desire to see hard quotas set and met: limited partners (LPs) want to understand to what extent the stated corporate values are reflected in reality and they are keen to see how general partners (GPs) are working to improve inclusion, rather than just diversity.[…]They [LPs] appreciate the value in a diverse decision-making base.”