Discrimination rampant in finance as female professionals lag far behind on pay.

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Nearly a third of finance professionals believe that they have been the victims of discrimination, according to a new survey by recruitment agency Robert Half. Male respondents were three times more likely than women to think they had been treated unfairly because of their age or race (34 per cent and 13 per cent, compared with 13 par cent and 4 per cent). Less surprisingly, far more women than men believed they had been discriminated against because of their sex (49 per cent, compared with 10 per cent).

The average pay for finance professionals increased by 5,500 [pounds sterling] over the past 12 months to 42,000 [pounds sterling], although all bonuses remained low and 42 per cent of respondents reported receiving no bonus at all. Women still earn an average of 9,000 [pounds sterling] a year less than their male counterparts.

Phil Sheridan, regional manager at Robert Half, said he was concerned that 13 per cent of UK firms still had no equal opportunities or diversity policy in place. He added that 19 per cent of the financial managers questioned in the survey did not know whether their company had one or not. "If you ask them, nearly all managers say they believe in having this kind of policy, but in reality most do not put this into practice," he said. "Embracing diversity is a financial necessity, and firms will find that they cannot attract the high-quality employees they...

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