The IFoA welcomes the publication of research by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) regarding gender imbalance among UK qualified actuaries.
We appreciate the investment made in the preparation of this research, which sets out useful analysis and consideration of the challenges faced by women entering into, and progressing within, the actuarial profession.
We were pleased the report indicates progress has been made, with respondents positive about improvements in culture and the improvement over time in representation across the profession.
The report also highlights valuable best practice initiatives and strategies, which we will seek to incorporate in the delivery of our existing DEI Strategy. As part of the Strategy, we are committed to taking direct action to ensure broader access to the profession, as well as working collaboratively with other industry bodies, regulatory bodies and partners to support initiatives which seek to tackle the complex and wide-ranging challenges identified in the report. We continue to support employers in recruiting diverse candidates and driving improvements in inclusivity in our members’ workplaces. This includes introducing DEI within the Quality Assurance Scheme (QAS) and undertaking DEI specialist reviews to provide further support and guidance on this topic to accredited organisations. This year, we also launched the DEI Employer Network and employer hub, strengthening our engagement and collaboration with members’ employers on DEI, and providing additional sources of support and guidance for members’ firms.
In the development and delivery of our DEI Strategy, we recognise DEI is much broader than gender. However, we acknowledge the specific findings of the report in terms of the challenges faced by women in the actuarial profession. As such, we continue to highlight female role models and support initiatives specifically designed to support gender balance and progression for women, whilst also ensuring that such initiatives support the overall principles of our Strategy and the development of an inclusive profession for all. More broadly, we continue to develop our demographic data gathering processes, improving the amount and quality of data we hold and to enable future tracking of trends and progress over time, regarding gender and other characteristics of diversity in the profession. This includes a survey of IFoA volunteers, with headline results published as part of our Annual Report in June 2023.
Moving forward, we welcome the ongoing discussion in this area and, through continued collaboration with the IFoA’s member-led Diversity Action Group (DAG), will continue to assess the report in order to identify further opportunities to build these findings into our strategic plans for the creation of a globally inclusive and diverse profession, open to all.
Further information about the range of ongoing activity and progress made against the DEI Strategy is available on the DEI Strategy 'our progress' page.