Gals > Goldman Sachs 💰

Goldman Sachs made a bad investment in a little something called gender bias, and it's time to pay up.

09 May

"It takes as much energy to wish as it does to plan."

— Eleanor Roosevelt

👋 GM, Rallie here. The newsletter serving you the tea, for free. Take a sip!

On the menu:

  • 💰 Gals 1, Goldman Sachs 0

  • 🗞️ Headlines that hit

  • 📈 Refresh: Gender pay gap

  • 💯 Top tweets

Why We Rallie

📉 Goldman Sachs made a bad investment in a little something called gender bias, and it's time to pay up.

  • This morning, news broke that global investment bank, Goldman Sachs, has agreed to pay $215M USD to settle a long-running class-action lawsuit that accused the company of systemically underpaying women, and alleged widespread bias in both pay and promotions.

  • The plaintiffs, representing about 2,800 former female associates and vice presidents of the Wall Street investment bank, accused Goldman Sachs of systematically paying women less than men, and giving women weaker performance reviews that stunted their career growth.

  • The Wall Street giant raced to finalize the deal to avoid an upcoming trial, scheduled for next month, that would've provided a rare public forum for testimony about inequality inside the financial industry.

  • “After more than a decade of vigorous litigation, both parties have agreed to resolve this matter. We will continue to focus on our people, our clients, and our business,” said Jacqueline Arthur, Goldman Sachs’ global head of human capital management. A pretty dry statement, if you ask us.

  • The lawsuit was one of the highest-profile cases targeting Wall Street’s alleged unequal treatment of women, and it's boys' club culture, that stretches back decades.

  • As part of the settlement, Goldman Sachs will hire independent experts to conduct additional analysis on performance evaluation and gender pay gaps, according to a joint statement from the bank and the plaintiffs’ lawyers.

  • And hats off to Cristina Chen-Oster, the MIT graduate who joined Goldman Sachs in 1997, and bravely paved the way by filing a discrimination complaint in July 2005 with the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, followed by suing Goldman in 2010. Since then, Chen-Oster has become a prominent advocate for women's rights focusing on the need for change in the financial industry.

Headlines That Hit

Rallie Refresh: Gender Pay Gap

At Rallie, every day is equal pay day. But sadly, that's not the case everywhere (👀 Wall Street). So today, we're breaking down what the gender pay gap is and why it's important to talk about.

💸 What is the gender pay gap?

  • The gender pay gap refers to how, on average, women earn less than men for the same or similar work due to various factors such as discrimination and outdated societal norms.

  • The gender pay gap is worse for those who face multiple barriers, including women of colour, Indigenous women, and women with disabilities. Though it differs by age group, the gap starts from a young age and carries into senior years.

  • In Canada, women make just 89 cents for every dollar men make, and at the current rate, it will take another 267 years to close the gender pay gap globally, if current trends continue.

🤔 Why do we care?

  • Well, other than the obvious reasons, the gender pay gap is one of the root causes of gendered poverty, as women are more vulnerable to low income than men in Canada.

  • It also impacts all stages of life for women. Girls aged 12 to 18 experience a summer job gender pay gap of almost $3 CAD per hour. Female post-secondary students also leave school with student loans to pay, but lesser means to do so. And it contributes to a gendered pension gap of 22%, where women retire with only about 80% of the pension that men retire with.

  • According to an Ontario Government report, women with the same experience, socio-economic and demographic background earn approximately $7,200 less than their male counterparts per year. That money, compounded over time, correlates to hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost earnings that women experience. 

Our final thought: it's a great day to have equal pay!

Trending Tweets

Our fav funnies to get you through the day.

Congrats, you made it to the end!

That's all for today. Stay hungry & we'll catch you next time. ✌️

Let us know what you think

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.

DISCLAIMER: This is not financial advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions.