I started my career as an auditor with Deloitte & Touche in California where my graduate intake was roughly 50:50 men:women; I took gender diversity for granted and, if I even thought about it (which I probably didn’t) I probably naively assumed that my peers would always be equal parts men and women.
After seven years at Deloitte & Touche and a further 17 years in finance (10 years at GIC, a sovereign wealth fund, and seven years at Morgan Stanley), I have seen the diversity of my peer group narrow meaningfully.
I think the work the Diversity Project is doing to promote investing as a career choice for everyone – men, women, people of colour, etc. – is powerful because it is a grassroots effort spearheaded by people passionate about the cause. I very much look forward to being a champion of the cause!