Sexism and the City: we must do more to tackle it from the top down in business

On a single day, a House of Commons select committee finds that sexism is rife in the City; the accuser of Christian Horner, a woman, is presumably at home, suspended from her job at the Red Bull F1 team; I am reading The Trading Game by former star bank trader Gary Stevenson, in which women are noticeably absent – certainly from the first third, in which the (all-male) high-rollers stalk the markets and relax by going to clubs where scantily clad hostesses serve exotic drinks.

Oh, and it’s also International Women’s Day, when we’re invited to “imagine a gender-equal world. A world free of bias, stereotypes and discrimination. A world that’s diverse, equitable and inclusive. A world where difference is valued and celebrated”.

That would be nice. What’s depressing is how little has changed. We kid ourselves if we believe it has. There have been shifts in behaviour and, undoubtedly, #MeToo was a major step, instilling the fear of being called out, but underneath, has the position of women altered, really, for the better? Certainly, we are nowhere near yet matching those objectives of International Women’s Day.

In 2018, the Treasury Select Committee found there was a toxic alpha-male culture in the City that held back talented women. They struggled to gain recognition and from that, promotion.

Six years later, the same body, now with Harriet Baldwin, the Conservative MP, as chair, decided to look again, in order to see what has (or indeed, hasn’t) changed. “Disappointingly, what we’ve discovered is that the answer is not much. In fact, progress is moving at a snail’s pace.”

Without wishing to rain on their parade, I, surely anyone, could have told the MPs so. Sexism and the City is as strong, as ingrained, as ever.

I like to think that we’ve come some way since I was asked on the graduate milk round by the men-only selection panel for a leading City law firm to tell them a joke. Only male candidates were asked to do this; presumably, the chaps thought women could not make them laugh. It was, there and then, the first expression of the bias that revealed itself in a virtually all-male partners’ list.

That was a long time ago, and presumably, that same firm no longer poses the question (or if it did, God forbid, it would ask men and women equally.)

When I did start work in the City, it was apparent how men at the top would ask the junior men to join them for a boozy lunch in the wine bar or for a drink at the end of the day. One or two would invite junior women to join them, but what they had in mind was something altogether more intimate and entirely lascivious.

We’ve come some way, but not far and definitely not far enough. Baldwin’s committee heard evidence regarding the use of non-disclosure agreements to cover up sexual harassment. “Not only does this silence victims of abuse, it also leaves the door open for those responsible to continue abusing with impunity,” says Baldwin.

It usually ends the same way. Having made the complaint, the woman’s position at the firm is untenable. She leaves, paid off, but without a job, while the male carries on regardless.

Is this where it is heading at Red Bull? Without getting into the rights and wrongs (and the nuances that Horner’s expensive lawyers would doubtless want to highlight) what’s occurred is not a good look. It’s also the usual look. Horner, who has always denied the allegations of inappropriate behaviour against him, was cleared of misconduct by Red Bull following an independent investigation led by an external lawyer.

There has been some advancement. The gender pay gap is closing and there are more women in senior roles. Although, with the latter, equality campaigners be warned: putting women on boards in non-executive directorship roles is nothing like having them around the same table as group CEO or financial director. Until those jobs, and other positions on executive committees, are filled by women, and men stop paying lip service by filling non-executive directorships, nothing like balance will have been achieved.

Investors have a lot to answer for; they could do far more. There is plenty of evidence that gender-balanced firms outperform peers that are not. This was confirmed again by a recent Black Rock study. Institutional shareholders should be demanding tangible evidence of reform. If there is none or it’s insufficient, they should sell. It’s the only language the City, the male-heavy City, understands.

Similarly, you suspect, the danger to Horner is not from within Red Bull – he’s already been cleared by an internal inquiry – but externally, from the team’s sponsors. Should they indicate their displeasure at the association and threaten to withdraw their cash, then his days must be numbered.

A cultural transformation is required, one that cannot be applied by regulation. The need to reform has to come from within. It means investors seeking proof of progress. It means not overlooking women for promotion because they might have a child and seek maternity leave. It means more naming and shaming. It means more MPs’ reports, but with names included, please.

The direction of travel is the right one; we have to speed it up.