Let’s Talk About …The Underrepresentation of Women in Leadership
Summary of themes written by Emily Young
Disclaimer: the opinions expressed by the author of this article don’t necessarily represent the opinions of NAWA as an organization.
Let’s talk about women. Let’s talk about what makes our experience unique – personally and professionally. Let’s talk about the barriers to entry and success for women. But let’s not just talk about it – let’s do something about it. Let’s understand the whys and come together to find ways to overcome.
This past June, NAWA held its first “Let’s Talk About” virtual networking session. This first of what we hope to be many events was focused on the underrepresentation of women in leadership. According to McKinsey’s 2024 Women in the Workplace study, 63% of those who enter insurance are women; however, when you get to the SVP and C-Suite levels, the numbers drop into the low 30s. While the insurance industry statistics are more promising than other sectors, there is still work to be done to achieve better representation in senior positions. Although these statistics are not specific to the actuarial field, many of us who are in the field see and feel the lack of representation. One individual in my career once shared with me, that at her company, there were more men with a specific name than women all together in the top level of her senior leaders. This made us chuckle, but it shouldn’t be so funny. It’s an issue that has improved over time and many of our careers, but it continues to persist and there is more to be done.
Back to the event - We had a diverse group of around 40-50 women and allies joining us for the discussion. We briefly shared McKinsey’s findings and then went into breakout groups to discuss the questions – why this is happening and what can we all do about it. “We” being women, allies, universities, companies, credentialing orgs – and NAWA. We did not want this to be a session to vent about the issue – but rather a session for us to connect, share experiences, and talk productively about how we can help. It was nothing short of that. Each group recorded their responses and shared back with the larger group – as well as documented for NAWA to summarize.
Here is our summary of some of the themes that emerged in the breakout groups:
For me, the biggest takeaway was how unique the experience of a female actuary truly is. It reminded me so much of the highly impactful “A Tale of Two Actuaries” I remember seeing this for the first time and finding it so brilliant – such a great way of explaining how implicit biases influence our personal experiences and create barriers along the way, which ultimately have an impact on one’s success in their career journey.
In my own breakout group, we spent a good amount of time discussing how many women come out of college heavily focused on exams, often feeling like their male counterparts receive more partner support during this time. Many women found themselves studying alone or independently, while their perception was that more of their male peers had partners who assisted them on their exam journeys. While these were the experiences and perceptions shared by some of those that were in my own breakout group and does not represent the general population or other’s experiences, what came out of this discussion was how the difference in support systems experienced hindered professional experiences, particularly when personal challenges arise.
We discussed the unique experience of those who have gone through pregnancy during their exams or careers. We discussed the lack of mentors, sponsors, bosses, or people that can truly understand what it is like having a different experience from their male counterparts, who can better relate to the pathway the majority of senior leaders are familiar with. Women are not incapable of balancing motherhood and professional responsibility; rather, maternal, affinity, and other biases have created obstacles (learn more about some of these biases). The community within our work life, where we spend most of our time, hasn’t been built to recognize or support women and their unique experiences, to encourage them in their journey and maximize their full potential.
With that, we received great feedback from those who attended – many confident that we would take this information and share it and use it effectively. Which is exactly our plan. We don’t have all the answers quite yet – but it’s just the beginning, and one piece of the puzzle. We will continue the discussions – bringing our findings to our members, the NAWA Corporate Action Council (a group of representatives from diverse organizations that meets regularly to foster collaboration and share insights), NAWA volunteers and leaders, and others. We plan to host these “Let’s Talk About” events on a bi-annual basis on various other topics. In addition, we’re beginning our work on the “Barriers to Entry and Success for Women” report, which will help to identify barriers and allow us to develop more specific short- and long-term opportunities to drive better equity and representation of women across all levels, from entry level to leadership. These are some of the ways we are starting to come together to move the needle. It will take time – but how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.
Thank you for reading this far if you have – and if you have additional feedback you want to share with us on the topic, please do so. If you were not able to attend our first “Let’s Talk About”, look out for future opportunities, and please fill out this form if you have ideas or comments you want to share regarding the underrepresentation of women in leadership, or have additional topics you’d like to see NAWA cover in the future.
Diversify Your Guides: The Power of Multiple Mentors
Disclaimer: the opinions expressed by the author of this article don’t necessarily represent the opinions of NAWA as an organization.
I realized recently how unlikely my entrance into actuarial science was. No one in my family had a math background. No actuary worked in my hometown. I attended a liberal arts school without an actuarial program. And it wasn't until I was in graduate school that I even considered an actuarial internship.
No wonder I felt like I was behind even before I was shown my cubicle on the first day of my first job. Luckily, one of my early managers became an informal mentor to me. Conversations with her helped me to see a path forward where I had no line of sight.
For women creating dynamic and sustainable actuarial careers, mentorship plays a vital role at all stages. A supportive mentor can offer guidance, perspective, and be an advocate for you.
There is also strength in numbers. We know that having one dedicated mentor is beneficial. Consider the power of establishing a network of mentors, each offering unique perspectives to propel you forward.
Why Multiple Mentors?
In a study of the impact of mentoring for lawyers [1], having either a series of mentors at different stages in one’s career or multiple mentors at one time was found to have a significantly greater impact than having one sole mentor. With a single mentor, job satisfaction did increase. However, with multiple mentors, individuals found increased earnings and faster career progression as well as increased job satisfaction.
Like law, the actuarial profession encompasses a broad range of specialties – from pricing to reserving, product development to strategic market decisions. We, as actuaries and humans, move through many seasons in our careers and our lives. It makes sense that no one mentor will be equipped to offer us what we need at every step. A diverse network of mentors may be just the ticket.
The Benefits of Multiple Mentors
There are many advantages of having multiple mentors.
Broader Perspective: Gain insights from various actuarial disciplines and career paths. This makes it less likely that you will take a mentor's story as a playbook to follow step by step.
Filling Skill Gaps: Identify mentors who complement your existing skillset and address specific areas for development.
Tailored Advice: Receive guidance relevant to your unique goals, interests, and season of life.
Expanded Network: Different mentors can connect you with a broader network, potentially opening doors to new opportunities.
Reduced Reliance on One Person: If a mentor's schedule changes or they move on from their role, you still have a strong support system in place.
Building Your Mentorship Network
Are you ready to expand your mentorship circle? Whether you are looking for your next mentor or an additional mentor, there are a few things you can be doing today.
Appreciate Your Current Mentor: If you already have a mentor, that's fantastic! Take stock of the many areas that they have positively impacted your career. Let them know what impact they are having.
Identify Your Needs: Reflect on your career journey, your aspirations, and the challenges you face. What expertise or guidance do you need that your current mentor might not be able to provide?
Seek Diversity: Look for potential mentors who have diverse actuarial specialties, work styles, or backgrounds. These unique perspectives will enrich your learning and growth.
Network & Connect: Leverage professional organizations like NAWA, industry events, and alumni networks to meet potential mentors.
Be Intentional: Reach out to potential mentors with a clear and concise request. Explain your goals and what you hope to learn from them.
By embracing the power of multiple mentors, you're not just expanding your network - you're getting an even better return for your career. Start building your dream team of mentors today.
In order to offer more opportunities to connect and partner with a diverse set of mentors, we are excited to be working on launching the next phase of NAWA’s mentor program. We heard great feedback from the pilot that some of you may have participated in. Watch for more information on the relaunch later this year.
NAWA Book Club Pick August 2023: “Dare to Lead” by Brené Brown
Disclaimer: the opinions expressed by the author of this article don’t necessarily represent the opinions of NAWA as an organization.
“It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”
—Theodore Roosevelt
Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910
I fell in love with Brené Brown over 10 years ago when her iconic Ted Ex talks on shame and vulnerability blazed the internet (1). Then the Netflix special in 2019 (2). She is so real and down to earth. Why does she feel so real? Because she talks about all the things no one wants to talk about. She, herself, is vulnerable. She gets deep into the corners of everything that is uncomfortable, or embarrassing, or shameful, shall I say. Brené shines light in those corners and gives people tools to do this themselves. She convinces them why they should want to be vulnerable in the first place.
Now, what if you could do this at work? Yes, I said at work. With your coworkers, your boss, their boss, and the team you manage. What if you could manage your people in a way that they bring their authentic selves to the table, every time? Brené shows us how to do this in “Dare to Lead”.
She shows us how to really get to know the folks we work with by understanding the values most important to them. For example, out of Brené ’s big long list of values3, you ask your assistant actuary what she values most and she says, “fun”. “Okay..”, you may think. But now you know that she is willing to work a deadline if there is a celebration at the end, or attend all your meetings for you, if, somehow you can make it fun for her – like taking her out for coffee to summarize. Perhaps she has some ideas for how to liven up those meetings? Now you know.
Learning how to “rumble” (i.e. discuss hard and awkward subjects) the way Brené Brown does is almost like learning a new language, a necessary one. By rephrasing things you really DO want to know, her methods make it so these doors will open up to you.
“Dare to Lead” teaches to be clear and concise. Sugar coating news is not nice, it’s vague. This reminded me of another book the NAWA book club read this year, “Myth of the Nice Girl” by Fran Hauser. She says:
Clear is Kind.
Unclear is Unkind.
I recommend reading this book with the workbook. I enjoyed the Audible, because Brené herself reads it, but be prepared to do some work along the way.
The NAWA book club makes it possible to grow personally and professionally, consistently through out the year. In case you missed it, check out some of the awesome books we read in 2023:
Mindset by Carol Dweck
The Rabbit Factor by Antti Tuomainen
Caste by Isabel Wilkerson
Drop the Ball by Tiffany Dufu
The Leader's Guide to Unconscious Bias by Pamela Fuller, Mark Murphy, Anne Chow
Dare to Lead by Brene Brown
Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez
Drop the Ball by Tiffany Dufu
The Myth of the Nice Girl by Fran Hauser
References:
(1) The power of vulnerability
(2) Netflix Special: Brené Brown: The Call to Courage
(3) Dare to Lead List of Values
Additional Resources:
Other NAWA Book Club books:
The Myth of the Nice Girl
The Virtual Revolution: NAWA Book Club — Network of Actuarial Women and Allies (nawaactuaries.org)
Real-Life Risk Taking with Christine Hofbeck
Disclaimer: the opinions expressed by the author of this article don’t necessarily represent the opinions of NAWA as an organization.
As actuaries, so much of our time is spent thinking about and quantifying risk. How can that influence our behavior when it comes to real-life risk taking? At the 2023 NAWA Annual Meeting, Christine Hofbeck spoke to attendees about this topic, sharing examples from her life and guidelines for thinking about risks and possible outcomes.
Risk is anything we do that has an uncertain outcome and an impact on us financially, emotionally, reputationally, or physically. At work, we generally think of risk as downside risk or something negative that we need to manage and mitigate, but applying this view to real life can limit us from achieving our dreams. What if you challenged yourself to consider risk both in the form of taking action and not taking action? What might you accomplish if you redefined risk to include things with potentially positive unknown outcomes? Instead of risk, we might label these as dreams, decisions, opportunities, or possibilities.
We tend to think of people as static points on the risk averse <-> risk seeking spectrum, with actuaries having a reputation for being risk averse. However, as individuals we might find ourselves at different points on this spectrum depending on the situation. Challenge yourself to reframe your mindset here, too: do you have a different perspective if you think of it as dream averse <-> dream seeking?
Christine shared a quadrant system for categorizing risks.
Both quadrants 2 and 4 could lead to regret. When you’re evaluating a risk, it can be helpful to determine which regret is bigger- the regret of doing something and failing, or the regret of not doing something you might have succeeded at but never tried? Even if you take a risk and face challenges or ultimately fail, simply by taking the risk you give yourself the opportunity to move from quadrant 4 to quadrant 1; that is, by taking the chance, you allow yourself the opportunity to succeed.
Sometimes risks are put upon us and we are forced to make a decision. In these situations, we may have to figure out the best path forward and how to minimize the risk of regret. Here are a few ideas for how to mitigate risk:
Lean on a trusted ally (ideally one that has a similar risk tolerance to you)
Don’t burn bridges (for example, if you are leaving a job, do it in a thoughtful way)
Build a network (for example, NAWA!)
Write it down
Plan
Alternatively, if you reclassify risks as dreams, you can use these tools to maximize possibility:
Take action
Tell a friend (like working out, posting it makes you more accountable!)
Research
Make time
Believe
At the end of the day, risks are uniquely personal, and accumulated happiness or your version of it should drive your decisions. Accumulated happiness might look different for everyone and may even be different for you at different points in your life. As you’re thinking about risk, think about the dreams you have and which of those might bring you the most accumulated happiness, and let this be your guide to real-life risk taking.
Bio:
Christine Hofbeck, FSA, MAAA is the Vice President of Actuarial Development at Fortitude Re. In this role, she leads the intern and actuarial development (exams) programs, rotations, and continuing education initiatives. Her non-fiction business book "Winning Conditions: How To Achieve by Managing the Details That Matter" (Simon & Schuster) became a bestseller and is available on four continents in two languages. She holds degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and MIT, and formerly served on the Society of Actuaries Board of Directors. In 2017 she was the runner-up on CBS's hit reality television show Survivor.
GALs Just Wanna Feel Connected
Disclaimer: the opinions expressed by the author of this article don’t necessarily represent the opinions of NAWA as an organization.
Have you ever looked around a meeting and realized you were the only woman in the room?
It certainly can feel that way when women are still a minority in the actuarial profession and STEM careers overall. The most recent diversity reports from the Casualty Actuarial Society and the Society of Actuaries show that today, just over 30% of worldwide members self-identify as female [1]. While this represents a dramatic improvement over time for both organizations [2], women are still generally underrepresented in the actuarial profession. Societally, there is a focus on improving diversity in the corporate workforce, but change does take time. In the interim, female actuaries may still feel a bit isolated.
At Lincoln Financial Group, a cohort of female actuaries is working to make sure that isn’t the case. At an annual gathering of Lincoln’s actuarial talent in 2022, female employees found themselves naturally discussing some of their desires at the company, like paying forward good mentoring experiences and bringing women together to spur more organic connections. These various one-off discussions developed into a grassroots effort to create a women’s actuarial group within Lincoln, which would later become known as the Group of Actuarial Ladies and Allies (GALA).
Grassroots is not an understatement, either. GALA came to be because 10 women were motivated to make it happen. Their small group chats turned into regular meetings, and those 10 women became the GALA Leadership Group – an appropriate name as it did indeed require a great deal of leadership to work through a few key challenges.
Solution
Challenge
The Leadership Group felt strongly that GALA should be tied to NAWA yet have a Lincoln-specific mission. They agreed that GALA would be designed to help women and allies in the actuarial profession feel a sense of community and inclusiveness, provide guidance and support to individuals of all backgrounds, and bolster the female presence in the actuarial field.
#1: Creating a Vision
To avoid feeling overwhelmed and enable progress, the Leadership Group found it helpful to identify top priorities and start with small, manageable steps.
#2: Setting Realistic Goals
Without a preexisting directory to pull from, the Leadership Group took it upon itself to pool its various networks within the company and create an email list of female actuaries and allies.
#3: Identifying Membership Base
The Leadership Group identified and officially recruited a woman actuarial executive who could act as a sponsor for GALA.
#4: Gaining Buy-In at a Company Level
To create company-level distinction from NAWA while adhering to the same principles, the Leadership Group landed on the name GALA for the Lincoln-specific women’s actuarial group.
#5: Determining Branding
It was critical to have clear definitions of roles amid the Leadership Group to support a clean rollout of GALA. Each member of the Leadership Group voiced their preference for responsibility and was given a specific role, such as NAWA Liaison, Administration Lead, or Marketing and Communications Lead.
#6: Holding Leadership Group Accountable
With planning and preparation complete, the Leadership Group hosted a January 2023 kickoff meeting to share goals for GALA and gauge interest in the group. Attendance was high, and the momentum flowed into the first official event, the “GALA-ntine’s Day” networking event held on February 13. This event helped the Leadership Group better identify the needs of members, who were in search of networking, mentorship, and opportunities to share their perspectives as women in the actuarial field.
GALA has used feedback to tailor events to the specific needs of members ever since. From discussing a short article related to Women’s History Month, to sponsoring different threads on a Teams channel, all GALA-sponsored activities in 2023 incorporated networking in some way. The member-focused strategy proves to be working, with members sharing positive sentiments at every event. One such comment came from a summer intern who attended a career stages networking event. The intern shared that their classes feel male-dominated and that they were so happy Lincoln had a group connecting women in the profession.
So, what’s next for GALA?
Although networking events have been successful at starting conversations, these conversations sometimes get cut short, and people may not take the opportunity to reconnect. In the first quarter of 2024, GALA is planning to pilot a coffee chat series aimed at creating regular opportunities for members to meet with the same small group over the course of six months. Topics will be provided to start conversations, but groups are welcome to discuss whatever comes to mind.
In 2022 Lincoln formally appointed a female actuary, Ellen Cooper, to CEO, and it has been a source of pride and motivation for other female actuaries. It is one of GALA’s goals to include her in a future event.
Other ideas the GALA Leadership Group would like to explore include a mentoring program, a speaker series, recruiting or community outreach events, and NAWA event watch parties or post-meeting discussions.
GALA is only in its beginning stages, but the connectedness of women in the Lincoln workplace has already improved substantially. GALA at Lincoln is a testament to advocating for a cause you believe in, and the group hopes to inspire others inside and outside the company! If you share any of the same feelings or have similar goals for your place of work, consider what you can do to improve your environment.
Author Bios:
Jacqueline (Brimley) Ennes, FSA, (right) is a Life actuary for Lincoln Financial Group in the Boston metro area. She graduated from Fairfield University in 2013 with a major in mathematics and a minor in computer science, and she achieved fellowship with the Society of Actuaries in 2022. Jacquie started her career in IT at another life insurer before pursuing actuarial accreditation, and that has influenced her passion for diversity and representation within the actuarial field. She is currently focused on life product development at Lincoln, and outside of work, she enjoys cooking and traveling with her husband and mini dachshund.
Lindsey Moyer, FSA (left) is a Senior Actuarial Consultant with Lincoln Financial Group. She graduated from Clemson University in 2016 and obtained her fellowship in 2022. Lindsey is engaged with the Network of Actuarial Women and Allies (NAWA) as a member of the Community and Connection Committee and is passionate about mentoring and empowering others!
Outside of work, Lindsey enjoys hiking, playing with her nieces and nephews, and traveling. She has spent the last year as a digital nomad and has enjoyed visiting over 15 national parks this year!
[1] As of December 2022, 31.0% of Casualty Actuarial Society members reported as female (https://www.casact.org/sites/default/files/2023-02/2022-Women-in-the-CAS.pdf). According to the June 2023 Society of Actuaries Diversity report, 33.0% of worldwide members and 32.2% of US members reported as female (https://www.soa.org/4a8d9f/globalassets/assets/files/static-pages/about/diversity-inclusion/2023-diversity-report.pdf).
[2] Author’s note: It was difficult to get historical information for both societies on the same basis. In 1992, 19.0% of CAS members reported as female (https://www.casact.org/sites/default/files/2023-02/2022-Worldwide-Membership-Over-Time.pdf). In 1960, 2.2% of SOA members reported as female. (https://digitalcommons.bryant.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1008&context=honors_mathematics).