Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance CEO Katrina Shanks has flagged the industry’s “systemic failure” to retain female leadership talent.

Writing exclusively for insuranceNEWS.com.au the day after International Women’s Day, Ms Shanks welcomes progress that has seen “more women stepping into leadership roles”.

However, she says women are resigning from management positions at a disproportionate rate.

“If we are truly honest in our assessment, we must acknowledge that getting women into management is only half the battle,” she writes. “The new front line for our industry is retention.” 

Ms Shanks says the industry working environment is not encouraging female leaders to stay.

“There are still cultural barriers that reinforce the ‘ideal worker’ archetype – the person who is always available, works long hours and has no outside caring responsibilities.   

“When career-defining conversations happen in settings that exclude people with family commitments, we inadvertently signal that seniority is reserved for a specific type of person.”

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