Paving the Way for Women on Bay Street

By Sheldon Gordon | McGill News| April 04, 2017

When Jennifer Reynolds, BA'94, MBA'98, was working her way up the investment banking hierarchy in the 2000s, there were no senior female role models for her to emulate. "I was promoted several times, but the more senior you become, the more you recognize the barriers inherent in the system. When you start having children, questions are asked: 'Are you still dedicated to your career? Do you really want to be in a leadership role?'"

In recent years, she says, the capital markets industry has made progress in recruiting women, and is more progressive about maternity-leave policies. Yet it remains male-dominated at the top echelons. "It's a bit chicken-and-egg," she says. "When you get more women in leadership roles, that's when you'll get cultural change in the organizations." So she is pushing to correct that scarcity of females at the senior levels.

Reynolds is the president and CEO of Women in Capital Markets (WCM), a Toronto-based association that connects, coaches and advocates for women in the Canadian financial industry. Founded in 1995, WCM has grown to over 1,500 members. Though three-quarters of them are based in Toronto, WCM has recently opened chapters in Vancouver, Montreal and Calgary.

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