Bermuda Post

Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

Does the City have a class problem?

Does the City have a class problem?

A recent report found that only a third of the people in the top jobs come from lower socio-economic backgrounds. Why? Kate Wills investigates

When Chris Carlisle was invited to his interview at Deutsche Bank, he needed a suit. “I had no money so I bought one from a charity shop but that looked terrible so I borrowed one from a friend,” says Carlisle, who grew up in Burton-on-Trent and went to a state school. Carlisle had a PhD from Cambridge, and he managed to land a job as an investment banking analyst. “It was such an alien environment to me. All these people in suits. Years later I discovered my file and one of the directors who interviewed me had put a big cross against my name, saying ‘Too scruffy’,” he recalls, laughing. “My boss was called Hugh and he was privately educated and hailed from some country estate somewhere. My dad was an electrician, my background was pretty working-class, so I did feel like an outsider.”

This was more than 20 years ago, but it may be that not much has changed. A report last month found that just 36 per cent of senior leadership positions in the City are held by staff from a working-class background. The City of London’s socio-economic diversity task force, which the Treasury and business department commissioned, has set a target of 50 per cent of leaders from a lower socio-economic background by 2030. Catherine McGuinness, co-chair of the task force and former corporation policy chief, said: “Where an employee comes from, how their accent sounds, or what jobs their parents held, should not dictate how far they progress in the financial and professional services sector.” Major banks including KPMG have now signed up to set goals on class representation, but are quotas the answer?

Peter Saunders, sociologist and the author of Social Mobility Truths, doesn’t think so. “Defining ‘working class’ is a minefield and sociologists have amused themselves for many years arguing about this, so the practical implementation of any such policy would be strewn with difficulties about who is covered and who isn’t, and would inevitably generate fresh unfairness,” he explains. “It is in the interests of City firms themselves to recruit the best people, so if there are bright working-class kids who want to go down this route, they will find doors open to them — remember the ‘barrow boys’ recruited after Thatcher’s Big Bang in the Eighties? If there is a problem it is not that firms are failing to appoint good working-class candidates, but that fewer working-class kids are applying. Outreach and mentoring schemes have more effect than positive discrimination.”

One such mentoring scheme is run by the social mobility charity UpReach, which offers students coaching, mentorship and exclusive opportunities. “We help working-class graduates across 10 different industries and we’ve found that financial services has the biggest hurdles to entry,” says Stephanie Lieber, acting CEO of UpReach. “One of the key barriers is that you need to apply in your first term of your first year of university for the Spring Week internships, and students from lower socio-economic backgrounds are often not thinking about careers at that stage. So we’ve said to the companies we work with, ‘OK, if you’re not going to delay the deadline, run a work experience programme with us later in the year’. Targets are meaningless if you’re not changing your recruiting process.”

Aoylid Hossain, 24, from north London, recently completed UpReach’s Banking and Finance Springboard, and currently works as an asset management associate at Coutts. “I think the biggest thing holding back people from working-class backgrounds like mine is not knowing the right people and not knowing how to articulate themselves,” he says. “UpReach were amazing at supporting me through numerous rounds of interviews at my assessment centre. We practiced role plays and team-building exercises. A lot of people there were stressed but I was excited.”

Hossain, whose parents work in manual labour jobs, says he’s never felt discriminated against because of his background. “I think it’s really important that you own your identity and know that you can bring a different lens to the equation. Mentoring schemes are great, but we also need more understanding from the banks about the challenges people from different backgrounds face.”

It might be as simple as providing travel and accommodation expenses to an intern up front (rather than reimbursing them afterwards), or relaxing the policy on wearing a suit to interviews. These are some of the suggestions of Fin Wright, from The 93% Club, a members club for people who went to state school — 93% of the population. “The finance industry has made huge strides in other kinds of diversity such as ethnic background and gender but when it comes to social class, the avenues into finance are still opaque and there’s still a culture of referral and giving your best friend’s son a job,” he says. “Because class can be difficult to define, people feel awkward talking about it and it’s become almost a taboo.”

Wright says that the pandemic may have had a positive effect for what he prefers to call “socially-mobile applicants”. “Zoom interviews are great if you’re not based in London or you’re a young carer,” says Wright. “Plus a lot of banks have relaxed their dress code. Not everyone can afford to buy a suit they wear once, and if they can it’ll be Primark not Prada.”

Most of the campaigners and bankers I spoke to for this article said that things have improved since the Sutton Trust’s report in 2016, which claimed that working-class students were “systematically locked out of the top jobs in investment banking”. UBS now has a work-experience programme open to 14-18 year olds from disadvantaged areas in east London. Bank of America has 80 mentors offering work experience and advice and Deutsche Bank has teamed up with the Sutton Trust to provide work experience to 300 high-achieving state school children.

“Class has been far behind other diversity issues but it’s getting much more traction now,” says Dr Rebecca Montacute, senior research and policy manager at The Sutton Trust. “But we know that finance has the highest level of social segregation of any industry. There’s a high use of personal connections to get internships and jobs, and a low level of public advertisement. We know there’s a class pay gap at all levels of a company, not just the leadership roles.” In November the Social Mobility Foundation found that professionals from working-class backgrounds earn £6,718 less on average, while women and most ethnic minorities face a double disadvantage.

Some argue Industry was an accurate portrayal of prejudice in the City

One senior trader, who asked not to be named for this piece for fear of being “outed” as working-class, says over 20 years in the industry he’s learned how to “pass”. “Banking is all about being the right ‘fit’ and so I’ve changed my accent, I’ve started going to the theatre and on skiing holidays,” he says. As one character in the BBC TV show Industry put it: “How do you expect to sell financial products if you sound like a miner?”

Some feel that prejudice still lurks. Another financial adviser, whose father was a postman, believes that tweeting support for the task force quotas is the reason he was recently passed over for a job he knew he was qualified for.

But Chris Carlisle, who is now a partner at a small boutique firm, disagrees. “Yes, my accent has softened but I’ve never liked skiing and I think golf is a waste of time,” he laughs. “Maybe 15 years ago if you wanted to do a deal you had to take the senior people to your club and name drop so and so, but things are done differently now. I’m more likely to use LinkedIn.”

And now that he’s the one in the hiring chair, does he care about the cut of an applicants’ suit? “Not at all and I don’t even really look at their education. It’s all about your attitude. And your ability to do the maths.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

Bermuda Post
0:00
0:00
Close
Paper straws found to contain long-lasting and potentially toxic chemicals - study
FTX's Bankman-Fried headed for jail after judge revokes bail
Blackrock gets half a trillion dollar deal to rebuild Ukraine
Steve Jobs' Son Launches Venture Capital Firm With $200 Million For Cancer Treatments
Israel: Unprecedented Civil Disobedience Looms as IDF Reservists Protest Judiciary Reform
Google reshuffles Assistant unit, lays off some staffers, to 'supercharge' products with A.I.
End of Viagra? FDA approved a gel against erectile dysfunction
UK sanctions Russians judges over dual British national Kara-Murza's trial
US restricts visa-free travel for Hungarian passport holders because of security concerns
America's First New Nuclear Reactor in Nearly Seven Years Begins Operations
Southeast Asia moves closer to economic unity with new regional payments system
Political leader from South Africa, Julius Malema, led violent racist chants at a massive rally on Saturday
Today Hunter Biden’s best friend and business associate, Devon Archer, testified that Joe Biden met in Georgetown with Russian Moscow Mayor's Wife Yelena Baturina who later paid Hunter Biden $3.5 million in so called “consulting fees”
Singapore Carries Out First Execution of a Woman in Two Decades Amid Capital Punishment Debate
Spanish Citizenship Granted to Iranian chess player who removed hijab
US Senate Republican Mitch McConnell freezes up, leaves press conference
Speaker McCarthy says the United States House of Representatives is getting ready to impeach Joe Biden.
San Francisco car crash
This camera man is a genius
3D ad in front of Burj Khalifa
Next level gaming
Google testing journalism AI. We are doing it already 2 years, and without Google biased propoganda and manipulated censorship
Unlike illegal imigrants coming by boats - US Citizens Will Need Visa To Travel To Europe in 2024
Musk announces Twitter name and logo change to X.com
'I just lost it' Lowe’s worker fired after 13 years of employment for confronting thieves trying to steal $2K of merchandise
The politician and the journalist lost control and started fighting on live broadcast.
The future of sports
Unveiling the Black Hole: The Mysterious Fate of EU's Aid to Ukraine
Farewell to a Music Titan: Tony Bennett, Renowned Jazz and Pop Vocalist, Passes Away at 96
Alarming Behavior Among Florida's Sharks Raises Concerns Over Possible Cocaine Exposure
Transgender Exclusion in Miss Italy Stirs Controversy Amidst Changing Global Beauty Pageant Landscape
Joe Biden admitted, in his own words, that he delivered what he promised in exchange for the $10 million bribe he received from the Ukraine Oil Company.
TikTok Takes On Spotify And Apple, Launches Own Music Service
Global Trend: Using Anti-Fake News Laws as Censorship Tools - A Deep Dive into Tunisia's Scenario
Arresting Putin During South African Visit Would Equate to War Declaration, Asserts President Ramaphosa
Hacktivist Collective Anonymous Launches 'Project Disclosure' to Unearth Information on UFOs and ETIs
Typo sends millions of US military emails to Russian ally Mali
Server Arrested For Theft After Refusing To Pay A Table's $100 Restaurant Bill When They Dined & Dashed
The Changing Face of Europe: How Mass Migration is Reshaping the Political Landscape
China Urges EU to Clarify Strategic Partnership Amid Trade Tensions
Europe is boiling: Extreme Weather Conditions Prevail Across the Continent
The Last Pour: Anchor Brewing, America's Pioneer Craft Brewer, Closes After 127 Years
Democracy not: EU's Digital Commissioner Considers Shutting Down Social Media Platforms Amid Social Unrest
Sarah Silverman and Renowned Authors Lodge Copyright Infringement Case Against OpenAI and Meta
Italian Court's Controversial Ruling on Sexual Harassment Ignites Uproar
Why Do Tech Executives Support Kennedy Jr.?
The New York Times Announces Closure of its Sports Section in Favor of The Athletic
BBC Anchor Huw Edwards Hospitalized Amid Child Sex Abuse Allegations, Family Confirms
Florida Attorney General requests Meta CEO's testimony on company's platforms' alleged facilitation of illicit activities
The Distorted Mirror of actual approval ratings: Examining the True Threat to Democracy Beyond the Persona of Putin
×