Alpha Females can Outperform Men in Finance

This past Sunday, the Times ran "Hedge Fund Heroines Outdo Men in the City" about the few women who are doing well in the downturn and indeed whose investments are outperforming their male colleagues. I think it is fantastic to celebrate their successes, especially in the financial sector, a field that is among the least welcoming to women. However, we mustn't allow examples of the very few women who are breaking through the glass ceiling suggest that discrimination is not pervasive.  As found earlier this year, " by the Equality and Human Rights Commission found that women employed full-time in the City were often sidelined into relatively low-paid support roles, receiving on average 80% less in bonuses and 47% less in salary than men - in a report ordered by Harriet Harman, the women’s minister, to shed light on the “hidden discrimination” in the City. Kudos indeed to the top earning women, but there is still much to do in helping more professional females get to the top, and succeed as women, not in spite of the fact they are women.