Sheryl Sandberg. Susan Wojcicki. Marissa Mayer. Beth Mooney.

What do these women have in common? They are amongst the most powerful and influential figures in business today, making decisions that influence our daily lives. It goes without saying that these women can be recognised as great role models when it comes to breaking the glass ceiling. But when we go a few rungs back down the career ladder, it’s easy to see there’s still a gender imbalance in startup & tech teams.

According to new projections by the US Department of Labor, the number of jobs in technology is sharply rising. They estimate there will be a staggering 1.4 million computer specialist jobs available in 2020. However, if current trends continue, there will be only 400,000 computer science graduates in the US in 2020- and a measly 12% of them will be female. Although some claim the tide is turning, the number of female Computer Science graduates has actually been steadily dropping since the millenium.

Of course, you don’t have to code like a pro to find a job in tech. But females without a technical background are less likely to consider themselves suitable for a tech-related position than their male counterparts. Many are also dissuaded by the perceived deep-rooted under-appreciation of females in the technology field.

At the same time, tech companies find themselves under (justifiable) pressure to address the gender imbalance in their teams. Countless studies demonstrate that diversity in teams- and not just in terms of gender- is good for business. A study by Catalyst found that for ROI, companies with the highest percentages of women board directors outperformed those with the least by 66 percent.

Many tech teams want diversity. Yet women feel discouraged from applying, for a multitude of reasons. It’s a Catch-22 situation.

A woman well-placed to discuss this Catch-22 is Elizabeth Lumley, Editor of Finextra. Lumley is an expert commentator on the FinTech scene, and one of the 100 women nominated for the female voice in FinTech by Innovate Finance. We reached out for comment about how being woman has shaped her experience in the FinTech landscape:

“I met two CIOs at banks this week who both described themselves as ‘not a techie’. I have been told this on numerous occasions by men who work, and hold senior positions, in what most people would describe as an IT/Tech organisation or department. What they mean is they work or manage IT departments – but they don’t code, or work with building applications or infrastructure, they don’t hold a commuter science degree. I think there are some women who feel, ‘well I don’t have a tech background, so I can’t work in the tech industry’. While men don’t think that way. But, for example, I feel like I’ve been working in the FinTech industry for 20 + years – I don’t have a computer science degree and I don’t know how to code.

Outside of that, I really don‘t think it is fair to women to underplay the role sexism and bias play, not only in our industry, but in society as a whole. What makes sexism at work so hard to deal with or overcome is that it doesn’t come in a Mad Men-style format anymore. Instead it is ‘death by a thousand cuts’. Most women would know how to deal with widely inappropriate behaviour – the metaphorical ‘pinch on the bottom’ so to speak. What is soul destroying is working year after year where:

• You go to full day conferences and see no woman on stage – and no one comments.
• You get talked over by men at meetings.
• Your idea gets ignored by senior management – until a man picks it up and repeats it.
• You find yourself the only woman in the room at events and meetings – over and over again.
• And by being the only woman in the room – you get to hear how some men talk about women in this industry. “Is she the one who dresses like a hooker?” Yes, she is the one who has a master’s degree from MIT and dares to wear four inch heels and lipstick.
• You get told to remember that ‘You can be a bit intimidating’ to the rest of the (younger, and less experienced and all male) team.
• You get told to ‘speak up dear, I have trouble hearing ladies voices’.

All of the above has happened to me, several times, and it can be draining. You can start to think. Why am I fighting? Why did I choose a career where I’m constantly walking uphill – with a big boulder.”

Though Lumley admits, whereas the present may not be an ideal environment for women, the future could be. “I know the above may sound pessimistic”, she admints. “But I think things are changing. The big change is visibility. We need to showcase more women leaders and thinkers in this space. Because a lot of the entrenched sexism in this space is just down to historical practice. Men are used to being in the majority. So an all-male panel at an event doesn’t strike them as strange. (an all women panel- not on a ‘women’ topic- would make the evening news) That visibility of women leaders will help the current and next generation of female workers to demand the appreciation they have long been denied.

And at the end of the day, this industry harps on and on about ‘disruption’ – there is nothing so disruptive as a female voice in FinTech. So, Bring it on.”

Lumley’s thoughts on change were reflected by Adizah Tejani, Head of Ecosystem Development at Level39. I present you with her thought-provoking wisdom for women looking to get into startups- which truly applies to everyone, looking to get into anything:

“Women bring an aspect of diversity to a team. Many studies have shown that a diverse workplace might ultimately create better results. This is crucial for startups.

We believe there are no purely female and male attributes. The best thing one can do, no matter the gender, is to be your own champion. Don’t be afraid to challenge yourself, and to respectfully evangelise about your own talents and aspirations to the right people. If you don’t, who is going to do it for you?“

To celebrate the contribution of heroes that shape the global Fintech landscape in the UK, Innovative Finance gathered voices of women and created a unique list of the key female influencers. One of the outstanding characters on the list is Monika Gestautaite, a Head of Financial Operations at TransferGo.

After only one year at CASS Business School, at the age of 21, Monika was scouted by TransferGo and currently she is responsible for all day-to-day frictionless money flow at the company. “Before TransferGo, I have received an offer from RBS. However, I decided to choose a startup instead of a bank. It was something totally new and challenging for me. Monika claims that this was one of the best decisions she has ever made. “Fintech industry gave me an opportunity to found what really drives me – numbers.”

What will you be wishing for in 2015? On New Year’s Eve our minds will be occupied with future plans, expectations, concerns and also possible surprises. We’ve taken a look inside our own crystal ball to see through the mist of Christmas festivities and predict what awaits the financial technology sector in 2015.

Social Cash

Social Media has been booming for a quite some time now and each year it conquers more and more aspects of our so far off-line existence. With financial companies supplementing traditional  credit score rating by verifying the social media activity of their potential customers, we soon we will be able to get a better deal only because of having many friends or being an outstandingly active Facebook user. Payments has entered Social Media as well with SnapChat announcing its partnership with payment processing firm Square, which offers its own stand-alone friend-to-friend payment app called Square Cash. According to Social Media Beast another interesting feature might be an incorporation of ‘Buy’ button on Facebook and Twitter – an idea tested with a small number of clients but already loved by the marketers and advertisers. It demands to balance the user experience with the potential sales opportunity and this merge of social and e-commerece is definitely something to watch in 2015.

Cockney Sausage and Mash

Will London become the leading global FinTech during 2015?

Only recently the mayor of London, Boris Johnson, was travelling throughout Asia along with the most rapidly growing British start-ups, like Iwoca and TransferGo, banging the drum for London as the Fin Tech capital of the world.  According to Harrington Star looking back at what has happened in the last year we can safely say that the appetite for disruptive financial technology is growing every day and that is not going to change in 2015.  The largest area of growth over the next five years  will be the remote mobile payments —  purchases made via apps and mobile websites. It’s expected they will reach $91 billion in volume in the United States alone by 2019.

Euro Vision

Let’s make a song and a dance about the Euro. Will it be a slow ballad or an upbeat Europop dance number? Ongoing struggles with an under-performing labour market will characterise events inside the Eurozone during 2015. Some sources even cite the Eurozone as a ‘brake’ to the recovery of global economy. However, it doesn’t stop new countries from joining.

Lithuania enters the Eurozone on 1st January 2015 and their prognosis is much more positive. Baltic Times points out that the country’s inflation is the lowest it has been in the last decade, which means, according to financial experts, the condition are favourable for a switch of currency.

Lithuanian businesses will no longer be forced to spend money guarding against currency fluctuations nor paying for all currency conversions. Experts from the Economist predict that the euro adoption will boost Lithuania’s Gross Domestic Product by about 1.3%.

The transition to Euro definitely puts the focus on Lithuania and its citizens. It’s often expected that companies put their prices up when switching to the Euro, however, some companies do the opposite. For example, from 16th January 2015, TransferGo introduces new pricing for international money transfers within Europe. The company lowered their prices for all Eurozone countries with a 99p/€0.99 fixed transaction fee for transfers.

Sending Money from Your Fridge or Watch

Modern technology is not only to be widely used but also widely worn. The wearable tech trend and internet of things represent great opportunities for health and wellness brands and also fashion. Digital Trends predict that in 2015 we will see much more of a fusion between fashion and technology.  Smart ‘D-Shirt’ will be going on sale in 2015. Its design can detect movement, heart rate, speed, breathing patterns and localise the person who’s wearing it using a GPS location. The most important element is the fabric that allows sensors to be closer to the skin so they are able to collect more relevant data. Perfect for sportspeople, these inventions can also be extremely valuable especially for monitoring the health of newborns.

What if not only your health, but also financial life could be sorted with one swipe on your wrist? Sending money while using wearable or Internet of Things is definitely something that we should think of in 2015. Your fridge could then pay for your grocery delivery and your watch could become a very handy tool to send your student son abroad some extra cash for books (at least he’d say so).

(image credit: Miran Rijavec)