Pin-up photos and smutty jokes have long been commonplace on trading floors, but the finance world is gradually opening up to women — underlined by the arrival on Monday of Jane Fraser at the head of Wall Street banking flagship Citigroup. Her elevation marks “a milestone,” according to Lorraine Hariton, director of Catalyst, an organization that promotes women in the workplace. “But there is also a long way to go,” she said. Employment figures demonstrate the mountains that still have to be moved to achieve parity between men and women in the financial services sector. Women in 2019 made up more than 50 percent of employees in the field in the United States, but only 22 percent of managers — leaving aside the highest positions — according to a report by Deloitte. Current trends predict that figure will rise to 31 percent by 2030. And male financial analysts earned 17 percent more on average in 2020 than their female counterparts. Several women told AFP that women have to work harder than men to climb the ranks, and have to be seen as beyond reproach. Prestigious professions and those that pay the most, like investment bankers and traders, still remain strongholds of white men. And sexist remarks still come out from time to time. “For every Jane Fraser, there are hundreds, if not thousands, out there,” said Muriel Wilkins of the executive consultancy firm Paravis Partner. “Are they being provided with the opportunities to be able to advance?” she said. But the old certainties have started to shift. Women’s network Vague promises about the need to diversify recruiting have gradually led to some real reflection on the issue. “Slowly more leaders… are starting to think and to talk about what it means to have equity in their organization… and which structures they can put in place, so that it is not just on women,” said Muriel Wilkins.