10 | CAREER PERSPECTIVES Illustration to come Career perspectives We have taken a deeper look into women’s perspectives at both entry and Interviews with senior management levels to uncover why female representation declines at female financial each stage. Our interviews with leading female financial services executives services executives point to factors that enable women to succeed and advance, and they suggest point to factors actions financial services firms can take to advance gender diversity. that enable women to succeed A slow start: Barriers for entry-level women in financial services and advance. The experiences of entry-level women in financial services help to explain the steep drop-off in female representation between entry-level and middle management roles. Most notably, many women early in their careers do not aspire to top positions, and even when they do, they often lack the support needed to rise to the top.