BIPOC women in finance pay a performance tax that climbs with rank: survey
The report finds the surcharge grows with rank: on every measure it tracks by seniority, agreement is higher among respondents above middle management than across the sample as a whole.
“BIPOC women in Canadian finance are being held to different standards than their peers,” Tanya van Biesen, chief executive officer of VersaFi, said in the release accompanying the study.
Van Biesen said the gap runs through assessments of leadership and competence and through access to sponsorship, networks, and career-building opportunities, and called it systemic rather than a question of ambition.
VersaFi calls the Burden of Proof, 68 percent of respondents said BIPOC women are held to a different standard in leadership evaluations, rising to 82 percent among senior leaders.
60 percent said BIPOC women face more scrutiny of their leadership decisions, rising to 74 percent among senior leaders, and 48 percent said they face harsher penalties for mistakes, rising to 59 percent.
