Sexism in the City: ‘No matter how hard I work, they will never ever recognise me’

When City executive Selena* logged on for a Teams call with five senior male colleagues in spring 2021, she was gobsmacked.

She had spent weeks warning bosses that the London-based investment firm risked falling foul of European regulations. She had gathered data and presented supporting evidence, but was repeatedly brushed off. “Nobody wanted to listen,” she said.

So her jaw dropped that afternoon when a male colleague raised the issue and immediately gained support from the same boss who had ignored her. “I had to stop the meeting,” she recalls. “I said: ‘Why does it take a white, middle-aged man to deliver the exact same message that I’ve been delivering over the last few weeks?’”

When her comments were dismissed, and described as “over the top”, it was the final straw. “The realisation was: it doesn’t matter how hard I work, how talented, how committed I am. They will never ever recognise me,” she said.

Selena – now in her mid-40s – later resigned, bringing her decades-long career to a temporary halt, and leaving another City executive’s behaviour unchecked.