At Emerald Group, our work with the world’s leading actuarial employers puts us at the centre of the global actuarial community. In an industry that is constantly evolving, understanding changes in skills requirements, technology-driven transformation, employment opportunities and the interface between actuaries and global financial markets is fundamental to what we do.
This is the first of a series of articles, looking at how this world is changing and how actuaries and their employers need to evolve to stay at the forefront of this incredible sector.
Think about your colleagues, team, managers and the people working around you: How many are female?
In a world where diversity and equality are increasingly at the forefront of recruitment and decision making, there is definitely a need for more progress. But how far have we come? Did you know that the first female actuaries qualified 100 years ago, in October 1923? The names Dorothy Davis and Gladys Gregory may not mean much to you yet, but read on to find out more.
Who Were The First Women to Work in Insurance?
There’s quite a long history of women working in insurance, albeit in small numbers. The earliest record of a female agent working in insurance was in 1822, 100 years before the first women qualified as actuaries. Of course women had the professionalism and ability to take up roles in insurance and progress into actuarial science – just like the men they were working alongside, but this was the start of a long journey for this to be recognised. Over time, more women were hired as insurance clerks and they were able to access university in 1878, creating a route to formal learning and qualifications that opened up opportunities.
Looking back, a number of women stand out as incredible female trailblazers. For example, Ada Lovelace was mentored by Charles Babbage: he referred to her as ‘the first computer programmer’ – quite a feat for an aristocrat, let alone a young woman in a very male dominated science.
The First Female Actuaries
Introducing Dorothy Davis and Gladys Gregory. These two women stand out, not only because they were the first female actuaries but also because they qualified in under four years, after starting their studies in 1920. They certainly set the pace for the time frame for completing qualifications: now it takes roughly 5 years to pass all 13 exams. Progress from here was steady but slow: it took several years for other women to follow suit and in 1951 there were still only eleven female actuarial fellows. Thankfully, things are very different today.
100 Years Later
In today’s actuarial market, we see large numbers of female actuaries, but there are still significantly more men than women. In the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA)’s latest gender breakdown for actuarial membership in the year 2021/2022, the membership was split with 65% male and 35% female. This split was the same in 2018/2019. At Emerald Group, our clients share their DEI goals with us, as we partner with them to employ the best candidates. Thankfully, we place female candidates successfully in roles throughout the market, and support their progress to senior positions. We’re confident that this gender split will become ever more balanced in the coming years.
As a company with a high number of female leaders, we’re delighted to recognise and support women in leadership positions in actuarial and financial services. In 2011, the IFoA elected Jane Curtis as its first female President. Six years later, Marjorie Ngwenya was elected as the youngest president, as well as being the first president to be elected outside of the UK and the first person of colour to be elected.
What Next?
Looking back over the last 100 years, it seems that there is still progress to be made. As well as increasing the overall number of female actuaries, there is still some traction to be gained with more women taking council and presidential roles within the IFoA.
At Emerald Group, we work closely with our clients to help them meet all their organisational goals, including diversity. In recent years, we’ve seen an increase in companies reporting and improving their DEI stats and we work in partnership with client teams to support them with this. We support all our actuarial candidates equally, whether partly or newly qualified, or already working at a senior level. We can help you make the best next step in your career as you work towards your personal and professional goals.
To find out more about how Emerald Group can help you find your dream job in the actuarial and financial services sectors, call us on +44 (0)207 283 2520.
The Emerald Group
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for the Actuarial and Financial Services Sector