Story 28
I worked for 10 years in the industry on the trading floor at two bulge bracket US banks. I started as a graduate and very quickly learned what it took to succeed as a woman – ‘wear shorter skirts’ I was told, followed by rumours that I had only been hired because the boss wanted to f*** me, I was 21 at the time and fresh out of university. I look back at that woman and it breaks my heart that that was her introduction to the workplace.
In my final few years in the industry, I was involved in an HR ‘issue’ related to a sexual harassment claim that a junior had reported to me. It became clear very quickly that HR was not on the side of the poor woman who had been assaulted by a male MD and would do anything to try to cover it up. That, mixed with the experience of being asked to flirt with clients and be ok with them grabbing my bum as the only female on a business trip because that ‘that’s how we do business here’ made it pretty clear to me that it was time to get out.