The financial and insurance industries employ more women than men, but perform poorly when it comes to promoting females to the executive suite.

Only 4.4% of CEOs or business heads in the sector are women, compared with 17.3% across 4354 private sector organisations surveyed by the federal Workplace Gender Equality Agency.

About 56% of 267,363 employees in 225 financial services companies surveyed are women, compared with 48.5% in all industries.

Representation is equal at GM and senior manager level, but at higher levels financial services falls behind.

Women working full-time earn 36.1% less than men, but the sector beats other industries on paid leave and work flexibility, with 75% of companies offering primary-carer leave compared with the average of 48.5%.

This may be partly explained by the low numbers of casual workers in finance and insurance.

About 79% of financial and insurance businesses allow telecommuting, compared with the overall average of 62%, while 74% offer job-sharing compared with 60%.

Agency director Helen Conway says traditionally male-dominated industries such as mining and utilities do a better job of moving women through management levels. She says companies are missing opportunities to create diverse teams that enable them to innovate, meet customers’ needs and manage risk.