Women in Fintech

The missing piece of the puzzle

Fintech has been on the up and up since the financial crisis, with investment rising year on year. Fintech’s refreshing ethos and dynamism has attracted graduates, engineers, marketers, even luring senior financial professionals out of their suits and ties, and yet women are still significantly under-represented. Let’s explore why we need more women in Fintech, and how we can attract them.

The Why

Laura Gottwald

Head of HR, Spotcap

“The central question for me is "why not?" We should start by asking ourselves Why shouldn't more women be in fintech? By bringing different ways of leading, thinking and working to the table, women can sharpen fintech's focus and impact on the world.”

Jessica Ellerm

Fintech Blogger & Business Development Manager at Tyro Payments

"The biggest opportunity in Fintech is for current and emerging founders to commit to 50:50 gender diversity from day one. This needs to extend to senior leadership teams as well."

Danielle Szetho

CEO at Fintech Australia

"Finance shapes the way the world works, and fintech is re-shaping finance. I’m proud to be leading a community that is boldly shaping the fintech agenda in Australia, because I believe fintech will make a hugely positive difference to people’s lives."

Laura Reitel

Portfolio Manager at CreativeHQ and Lightning Lab XX

"Financial technology is traditionally male dominated but quite simply, women drive the world economy, they represent a tremendous amount of purchasing power. This combined with their unique leadership characteristics puts them in a perfect position to be leaders in this space and be in the driver’s seat of a new wave of fintech."

Kendall Flutey

CEO at Banqer

"As a woman leading a Fintech company I know I’m a minority. But I also know I’m able to boldly shape and influence the next generation through my work. And from what I’m seeing I don’t expect to be a minority for much longer."

The How

Lillian Martin

Talent Acquisition Lead Spotcap

“It’s not that hiring managers aren’t interested in female candidates, they’re just in short supply. This tells me the problem has deep seeded roots. We need to encourage women, from school age, to take an interest in ‘traditionally male’ fields like finance and technology, and arm them with the confidence to make a difference.”

Amy Ciolek

Fintech Influencer & Senior Associate, Financial Services at Ashurst

"Women: empowering other women makes you stronger, so swap your insecurities for creativity, and enjoy your world. Men: your clients are women, so you need women to help shape your products."

Gina Papapetrou

Senior Data Strategist at MercerBell

"Statistically, women excel in STEM subjects at tertiary level, particularly when it comes to skills like multitasking, applying technical knowledge and strategic planning. The missing link is, therefore cultural: we need to enable them to contribute and provide them with the tools they need in order to realise their potential. I believe the future needs to be shaped by all of us - and this means a future shaped without a gender bias.”

Michelle Moffatt

Head of Internal Audit at Tyro Payments

“Fintech founders and CEOs have an awesome opportunity to decide at the start on the company culture they want to create. They need to be bold, and consciously choose to appoint and support women in their fintechs right from the get go.”

Conclusion

Ultimately, fintech, as a dynamic, bold and lively industry should appeal to all people regardless of gender. Couple that with a broad understanding of the power and potential staff diversity has to improve business performance and we’re on the right path. But it will won’t happen overnight and it will require a commitment, so be bold and get involved. After all, we are part of an industry built on driving change.