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Liette Bromley, a director of the Bank of Montreal?s capital markets bond desk in TorontoSARAH DEA

Liette Bromley was honoured on Monday as "a prime example of how smart, bright and talented women can succeed in capital markets." The Rising Star award was presented to Ms. Bromley by Toronto-based advocacy group Women in Capital Markets for providing mentorship to young women in the industry.

Ms. Bromley said that when she decided to get into her line of work, she didn't have the luxury of having a role model like herself.

"I literally fell into the profession," a director of the Bank of Montreal's capital markets bond desk in Toronto said in an interview. "If you asked me when I was in university 15 years ago what I would be doing in 2010, capital markets were probably furthest from my mind. No one ever communicated to me that there were opportunities for women in finance outside of accounting."

Now, she recruits regularly for the bank and tells the next generation of women that they should look to careers in high finance. "The opportunities can be endless," she said.

But few women seem to be getting the message. As the stock market recovers and brash Gordon Gekko and his cigar-chomping chums are roaring back in the big-screen sequel Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, women seem to be retreating from the real Wall Street and Bay Street, new figures show.

In the past 10 years, 141,000 women, or 2.6 per cent of female workers in finance, left the industry in the United States, a decade in which the ranks of men grew by 389,000, or 9.6 per cent, according to a new analysis from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The shift runs counter to changes in the overall work force. The number of women in the U.S. labour market has grown by 4.1 per cent in the past decade, outpacing a 0.5-per-cent increase in male workers.

While there are no equivalent statistics for Canada, "it's safe to say it continues to be a challenging time for women in capital markets," said Deborah Gillis, vice-president for North America of Catalyst Inc., a New York-based advocacy group for women in business.

Surveys done by Catalyst between 2000 and 2008 found there was almost no growth in the proportion of Canadian women who advance to executive roles in capital markets, which held steady at 17 per cent. And the number may have slipped lower over the past two years, Ms. Gillis said. "What's troubling is that our last data was collected at a time when the economy was growing and before the recession hit. If we look at research Catalyst has done of how MBA graduates are faring in Canada, women in senior executive roles in all industries have been three times more likely than men to lose their jobs in the recession."

That's not for lack of recognition of the value of women in financial careers. Canada's banks have consistently increased the proportion of women being hired in other roles, but when it comes to capital markets - investment trading and advising - there seem to be a set of barriers to women seeking out opportunities and advancing, Ms. Gillis said.

A major hurdle that Catalyst is addressing is gender stereotyping, she said. "Women continue to be excluded from informal networks where relationships are built. … We need to see leaders stepping forward to offer opportunities to develop, promote and recognize women," Ms. Gillis said.

But as in Ms. Bromley's experience, women are not encouraged to get into financial market roles in the first place, said Martha Fell, chief executive officer of Women in Capital Markets.

"The capital markets are in general well suited to women, but the specialties are poorly understood because there aren't many classes in universities that give overviews of the spectrum of capital market functions and what careers might be available," she said.

"It is not just trading and sales, there are specialized areas like derivatives, foreign exchange, risk management and corporate credit that have expanded their scope and created new opportunities in the past 10 years," Ms. Fell said.

Another problem is that there continues to be few women who have reached senior positions who can act as role models and mentors, she added.

Among the persistent stereotypes is that investment work is exhausting and that its long hours interfere with a normal home life, said Patti Shugart, managing director of corporate banking for Royal Bank of Canada in Toronto. Ms. Shugart also received an award from Women in Capital Markets for her leadership and mentoring.

"It is a very fast-paced and demanding industry and [women]need to be clear that that's what they are signing up for. But with technology … you can be anywhere and continue to move your career forward and keep a balance between your business and personal life," Ms. Shugart said. "I have been in the business for more than two decades and have two children, 16 and 12, and I feel I have been able to have it all."

The financial industry, she added, needs "to build an awareness around different opportunities and tell the story that women can flourish in capital markets."

With files from The Wall Street Journal

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SNAPSHOT

2.6

Percentage decline in American women in finance in the past 10 years.

9.6

Percentage increase of American men in finance in past 10 years.

4.1

Percentage increase in total U.S. female work force in past 10 years

24

Percentage of women in all financial specialties in Canada in 2000.

21

Percentage of women in financial specialties in Canada in 2008.

17

Percentage of women in financial management jobs in Canada in 2008

0

Percentage change in women in financial management 2000-2008.

Sources: Catalyst and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

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Tickers mentioned in this story

Study and track financial data on any traded entity: click to open the full quote page. Data updated as of 28/03/24 4:15pm EDT.

SymbolName% changeLast
BMO-N
Bank of Montreal
+1.35%97.68
BMO-T
Bank of Montreal
+1.13%132.25
RY-N
Royal Bank of Canada
+0.48%100.88
RY-T
Royal Bank of Canada
+0.29%136.62

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