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.