Diversity for Employers

Industry Statistics

How does the industry compare to all private sector employers in terms of the employment of women and minorities? Is this just an issue in the US, or does the industry face similar issues in other countries? 

For answers, see the following:

• Diversity Trends: The Finance and Insurance Industry is a leading employer of women in the US, but falls behind the overall private sector in the employment of minorities. View Diversity Trends.
  

• Advancement Opportunities: A 2006 U.S. EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) study of “Diversity in the Finance Industry” found that opportunities to advance were generally unfavorable for women and minorities in the finance sector, and particularly for women and African Americans in the insurance subsector.

• Diversity Initiatives in the financial services industry face challenges, including the recruitment and retention of minority candidates and middle management “buy-in,” and have produced no appreciable improvement  in management level diversity since 1993, according to a U.S. GAO (Government Accountability Office) study released in February 2008, updating a June 2006 report

• The Canadian Experience: Insurance industry diversity is not an issue unique to the U.S.  A 2007 study of the property-casualty insurance industry in Canada conducted by the Insurance Institute of Canada reveals an aging industry workforce, and shortfalls in the percent of senior management level positions occupied by women compared to participation levels in non-management ranks

• Minority Women: A 2003 U.S. EEOC study titled “Women of Color: Their Employment in the Private Sector” found that, despite being a leading employer of women overall, the insurance industry  is among the ten U.S. industries with the lowest odds of an African American or Hispanic women advancing to a management position