Normative collusion in the industry ecosystem: Explaining women’s career pathways and outcomes in investment management

Abstract

Women are chronically under-represented in investment management, an industry that wields substantial global economic power. This article examines the sources of women’s under-representation, marginalization, and lack of progression within this crucial industry. We demonstrate that norms and practices generated within the industry ecosystem – comprised of industry-specific structures, actors, and interactions – collude to restrict women’s ability to engage with and progress through investment management careers, a process we label normative collusion. Where existing theories have focused on the institutional, organizational, and individual factors that influence women’s career choices and trajectories, our findings demonstrate how industry-level norms and practices can bind organizations to particular modes of operating. To fully understand women’s career pathways and outcomes, particularly at key stages of the life course, we assert that industry-level influences should be incorporated into theoretical models. Foregrounding how normative collusion occurs in the industry ecosystem is an important step, we argue, in understanding women’s career disadvantage, and in designing strategies for change.