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Let's break down the gender across the industry persists. A 2021
report by the Fintech Diversity Radar
barrier in the payments industry found that women make up only 11
percent of all board members glob-
ally. In addition, just 5.6 percent of
By Paulette Rowe all fintech CEOs are women, and less
Paysafe, Integrated and Ecommerce Solutions than 4 percent of women hold the C-
level roles of chief innovation or tech-
omen around the world face an influx of nology officer.
obstacles in order to launch and sustain
a career in any field. This notion holds While it's important to call out wom-
W especially true in the payments industry, en's lack of representation in many
where certain prejudices and unconscious biases perme- professional roles, it's just as crucial
ate across many segments of our work. to address the subtle biases that exist,
identifying what they are and pro-
Despite large amounts of progress the industry, and society at large, have made viding initiatives to implement at the
in recent years, work still needs to be done to make the workforce an inherently source. This is especially important in
equitable and inclusive space where all women can thrive and grow in equal traditionally male-skewed functions,
measure to their male counterparts. like finance and technology, along
with key leadership roles, where sig-
For the payments industry to achieve true equality, it's time to address nificant gender gaps are common.
historically harmful attitudes that are often overlooked and consider what
employees at all levels need to succeed. One of the most accessible ways to
break down the gender barrier in pay-
Bridging the gender divide ments is to raise awareness of where
disparities exist. This includes ad-
Companies tout the progress they've made toward attaining gender equity, dressing "affinity bias," or hiring/pro-
or representation; however, a concerning lack of women in senior-level roles moting people who are like ourselves
in appearance, beliefs and back-
ground, as well as "benevolence bias,"
or limiting an individual's autonomy
by making decisions for them, often
intended to help, but done without
consulting the individual in question.

One example of bias involves moth-
erhood, where a conscious decision
influenced by unconscious assump-
tions could result in a working moth-
er receiving less encouragement and
support to get to the next level in her
career compared to a male colleague.

To reduce the risk of unconscious
bias, like affinity or benevolence bi-
ases, we need to recognize it exists
and pursue proactive strategies to
challenge the assumptions behind
them. An obvious place to start is to
look at how your company structures
its recruitment framework and the
processes for selecting new talent.
Flawed hiring systems and biases can
hamper the entire talent funnel.

It's important to consider all aspects
of the talent management process in-
cluding not only how to attract, de-
velop, promote and retain female tal-
ent, but also how to bring line manag-
ers along on the journey.
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