While the “vast majority” of women working in financial services feel they are underpaid and under-represented, the majority of men don’t believe a gender divide even exists.

A poll of 800 finance industry professionals by the Financial Services Institute of Australasia (Finsia) last week shows that while a startling 85% of women feel there is a gender divide within financial services, 58% of men disagree.

Finsia says the poll results show significant barriers remain for women in the workforce.

While 61% of men polled said the pay gap in the industry is grossly exaggerated and that the gender difference in earnings is a fair reflection of the hours worked and skill set, some 80% of women disagreed.

And 84% of women in the survey agreed that “even women who choose not to have children are under-utilised in the senior ranks”, compared to just 28% of men.

Further, 82% of women surveyed felt that “most women who take time out from the workforce due to caring responsibilities are forced to trade promotion for flexibility”, compared with 52% of men.

Although 71% of male respondents believe “companies have taken significant steps… so women now have the same opportunities as men”, 72% of women disagreed.

In terms of workplace culture 60% of men felt their workplace culture offered “extensive” encouragement to female employees regarding their career opportunities, compared to just 19% of women.

“The survey findings reflect that while the implementation of pragmatic measures such as childcare support and flexible work options would go some way to lifting the levels of female participation within our industry, essentially cultural barriers go to the heart of the gender divide,” Finsia CEO Martin Fahy said.

“The only way to explain the lack of women occupying leadership roles is a common bias at executive management level toward men.”

Mr Fahy says Finsia intends to examine the cultural barriers encountered by women throughout the career cycle, with a particular focus on entry into leadership roles.