Women make up only 10 percent of the 700 plus professionals at Europe’s biggest private equity firms, according to an article from the Wall Street Journal online. This is a steep drop from a UK tally that shows women represent nearly half of that country’s overall financial services sector.
The data, from provider Pequin, showed that nearly half of the women who completed the survey thought their gender had a negative impact on their career. One reason is that many professionals enter private equity in their late 20s or early 30s, after having gained experience at other financial firms. This time period often conflicts with women who want to start a family at their time of their lives.
Nevertheless, Carol Kennedy, a senior partner at Pantheon Ventures, which had the highest number of female investment professionals in the survey, feels that success breeds success. “If you’ve got people (women) seen to be doing well in other firms or within a firm, you are more likely to recruit senior professionals,” she said.
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