Our Girls Top Exams, But Why Cannot They Reach the Top?

Walk into a college or university in Bangladesh and look at the admission lists and examination results. In many institutions, girls make up 60 per cent of the students. From HSC through honours and master’s degrees, young women finish first, win gold medals and earn places on the dean’s list. From those classrooms, many young women go on to careers in banking and business. On a bank’s corporate lending team, you may find them advising clients and managing portfolios. Yet fewer women sit at the senior management table.

When I was a Country Officer at a global bank, many of our most capable young officers were women. They had a sharp eye for risk, handled clients well and brought discipline to their work. A decade later, most of those who had become managing directors or heads of corporate banking or treasury were men. Somewhere between that first appointment and the boardroom, we had narrowed the path for women.

To see where that path begins to narrow, look first at home. A daughter earns a GPA of 5, and the family celebrates. She wins a university place, and relatives call to congratulate her. Once she starts work, however, the questions change. When will she marry? Will her in-laws mind if she works late? I have seen where those questions lead. A young woman in my extended family finished first in economics and joined a multilateral institution. Two years later, her husband was posted elsewhere. “A good wife does not live separately,” her in-laws told her. She left a career her family had once been proud to see her begin. Sometimes that expectation follows a young woman into the office. A manager may hesitate to give a 27-year-old woman a major portfolio because he assumes she will marry and leave. Before she has made any decision about her future, he has already made one for her.

Even when she gets the assignment, a practical question remains. If month-end closing keeps her at the bank until nine, how will she get home? Without company transport, she faces a journey home by CNG or rickshaw and the risk of harassment. After enough such evenings, even parents who encouraged her to work may urge her to resign. Later, maternity leave can put even an established career on uncertain ground. A woman returning from six months of maternity leave may find that a colleague has kept her clients and her portfolio. By the next promotion round, he has moved ahead. As I have argued in board meetings, management bears responsibility when an experienced officer leaves because we gave too little thought to her return. Other opportunities slip away more quietly, over tea after work or dinner at the club. Women often miss these gatherings because they are left off the invitation list or expected home. They also miss the chance to gain a sponsor who will put their name forward when a senior role opens.

Once a name reaches the committee, another hurdle emerges. In more than forty years of professional life, I have watched promotion committees ask whether a man can grow into a role, then ask whether a woman has already managed a comparable portfolio or weathered a crisis. One decision still troubles me. At a multinational bank, the woman competing for a senior post had better numbers, stronger risk management capacity and better client feedback. The committee chose her male colleague. The job involved considerable pressure, they reasoned, and she had a small child. Nobody asked whether he had a small child. We simply assumed his wife would manage.

So, what should we do? Our response must begin well before that vote. Firstly, focus on the years when we lose experienced women, often between 28 and 35, as marriage, motherhood or a transfer reshapes family life. Guarantee a returning officer her portfolio and offer six months of structured support, with flexible hours or the option to work from home for the first three months. Secondly, require every senior leader, myself included, to sponsor at least two women. A mentor offers advice. A sponsor speaks in the promotion meeting, explains why a colleague is ready and takes responsibility for backing her. Finally, let us return to the conversation at home. As fathers, husbands and fathers-in-law, we can help a daughter get home safely after a late shift and celebrate a daughter-in-law’s promotion with the pride we once took in her examination results.

When a bank or a company next chooses a managing director, I hope the committee asks who earned its clients’ trust and exercised sound judgement on difficult deals. We already rely on women to do that work. Their record should count when we choose our leaders.
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The writer is a banker and economic analyst