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Women in Banking


     According to Sheryl Sandberg in her groundbreaking book Lean In, “Women became 50 percent of the college graduates in the United States in the 1980s. Since then, women have slowly and steadily advanced, earning more and more of the college degrees, taking more of the entry-level jobs, and entering more fields previously dominated by men. Despite these gains, the percentage of women at the top of corporate America has barely budged over the past decade. A meager 21 percent of Fortune 500 CEOs are women” (Sandberg, pg. 5). I talked to a few women who work within the business realm, and they acknowledge the need for women within the workplace.
Laura works as an Assistant Branch Manager for Citizens Bank, and she states, “Women in the field I feel are a doubled edged sword. We are perceived as less knowledgeable, especially around business accounts versus personal accounts. Banking is traditionally seen as a man’s role where the teller side is more traditionally seen as a womanly role. However, we provide great value in the ability to connect with customers on a deeper level, and keep the bank organized and running efficiently. Without women, all my locations would probably look like a dump, and receive low customer experience scores.”

    

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