Women comprised 38 percent of Goldman’s U.S. employees in 2017, according to company filings. The bank’s top executives, including incoming Chief Executive Officer David Solomon, have pledged to increase that number to 50 percent in the future. By 2021, leaders aim for an even gender split in its hiring of recent college graduates.
At Wells Fargo, women are 42 percent of this year’s interns, and about half of the class is ethnically diverse, said Shawnda Jefferson, head of the early talent team. The San Francisco-based bank has about 900 interns spread across 15 programs, with Wells Fargo Securities making up one of the largest classes, she said.
Morgan Stanley has also seen increasing diversity among its intern classes over the past five years, according to a spokeswoman for the New York-based firm. Among the bank’s U.S. summer analyst and associate classes, 56 percent of participants were ethnically diverse. Globally, women made up 43 percent of the summer analyst and associate classes.
Putting together a diverse group of interns is one thing, but the tricky part is what comes next: retention. O’Neal, who started her career in the investment-banking department at Merrill Lynch, said she’s encouraged by the numbers.
“I wouldn’t think that a decade ago, when I was on Wall Street, that diversity might be mentioned on an earnings call,” she said. “So the idea that this is changing the zeitgeist and the conversation around inter-populations is important.”
This story was provided by Bloomberg News.