New network aims to attract teenage girls to jobs in banking
Alongside C# programmers and regulatory change specialists, the people banks really want to attract now are... teenage girls.
Banks have been trying to woo girls for a few years. In the U.S. Goldman Sachs co-ran a 'Girls who Code' initiative last August. In the UK, it's been targeting British teenagers who are studying for A Level exams. JPMorgan has been running events for teenage female technologists and sponsoring things at Cheltenham Ladies College. Bank of America Merrill Lynch has been known to sponsor occasions at St. Paul's Schools for Girls in London.
The trouble is that female graduates' enthusiasm for banking jobs has fallen dramatically since the financial crisis. If they're to meet diversity targets and develop a pipeline of interested female talent, banks need to start grooming girls for finance careers early on. To help solve the problem, a new network has been set up to help banks find young female talent.
The Artemis Network was set up by former Deutsche Bank senior graduate recruiters Nadia Osgood and Viv Dykstra. Initially targeted at women aged 16-18, it aims to provide a career development forum for women until they're 21. It's free, and will include mentoring and a resource area for young women who think they might want to work in finance.
"We are cultivating a socially diverse and multi-cultural female talent pool," says Osgood. "Women who have considered careers in sectors such as investment banking or asset management are in extremely low numbers. Many are discouraged by popular negative perceptions of the industry. By engaging at this early age, as well as working with careers advisors and head teachers, we hope also to broaden the appeal of business and finance career."
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