State of Diversity in the U.S. Banking Industry

According to the BLS' Occupational Outlook Hanbook, accountant jobs, as well as auditing jobs, have a positive growth outlook. Employment of accountants and auditors is projected to grow 13 percent from 2012 to 2022, about as fast as the average for all occupations. In general, employment growth of accountants and auditors is expected to be closely tied to the health of the overall economy. As the economy grows, these workers will continue to be needed to prepare and examine financial records. See here

Recently, it has been reported that financial companies have touted various initiatives to boost their count of female and minority employees in recent years, from forming special networking groups to holding conferences recognizing female employees. Most of these companies, however, haven’t publicized detailed data on how many women and minorities they employ—the best indicator of whether these programs are working. Read more here

Earlier this year, the lack of diversity as reflected by low numbers of women and minorities with banking careers was reported: The financial trade is controlled by old, rich white dudes, a cohort that doesn't accurately reflect the country's shifting demographics; Overall management in the financial services industry is 81 percent white as of 2011. African Americans only account for 2.7 percent of senior-level staff in the financial industry, while women hold just 28.4 percent of upper management jobs. Read more here

With jobs in the banking/financial industry expected to grow in the next decade, it would be a sound business move for more banking/financial companies to diversify their workforces.