As Citi Taps Fraser, Wall Street’s Poor Record On Diversity Is Put In Focus

But the male-dominated financial services industry has fared poorly. Even beyond the major banks, only four of the 200 largest public U.S. financial services companies – Synchrony Financial, Franklin Resources Inc, Nasdaq Inc and CIT Group Inc – have female CEOs, according to BoardEx.

Women are also underrepresented in CEO roles at financial firms when smaller companies are included. Of the 551 financial companies in the Russell 3000 index, 19, or 3.4%, are led by a woman, compared to 5.4% when counting all Russell 3000 companies, according to The Conference Board, a non-profit representing corporations, and Esgauge, a data-mining firm.

The only sector with a lower representation of women as CEOs is real estate, where there are five female chief executives out of 196 companies, according to The Conference Board and Esgauge.

“These are really positions that women have not pursued because of the work-life balance. We have seen years and years of struggle for women who have to choose,” said Charlotte Laurent-Ottomane, executive director of the Thirty Percent Coalition, which encourages diversity in corporate boardrooms.