Although it has been 15 years since Heather-Anne Irwin launched an organization tasked with promoting the entry and advancement of women in capital markets, there has been little progress in the number of women advancing in the industry. However, she refuses to be discouraged.

“I’m an optimist,” says Irwin, 50, an adjunct professor at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management. She is also the founding president of Toronto-based Women in Capital Markets and still an active leader in the association. “One of the most significant things that Women in Capital Markets has done is to help keep this issue relevant. We have more than 850 members, so it’s still obviously very relevant.”

Irwin’s unwavering commitment to the WCM’s cause is a reason she recently received the WCM Visionary Award. The inaugural award was created in honour of the non-profit organization’s 15th anniversary to recognize an individual for her outstanding lifetime achievements and contributions to the association.

Martha Fell, CEO of WCM, says the association’s board of directors saw Irwin as the obvious choice for the award: “Her level of commitment — particularly as she’s moved slightly outside of the industry — and her level of involvement has just been tremendous. She’s as passionate today as she was 15 years ago.”

Irwin developed a passion for the WCM’s cause early on in her career, during which she experienced first-hand the challenges associated with being a woman in the financial services industry. Her 17-year stint in capital markets included more than two years as assistant vice president with Toronto-based Citibank Canada; seven years with Toronto-based BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc. (formerly Burns Fry Ltd.), at which she held several senior positions; and six years at Toronto-based TD Securities Inc. as director and vice president of equity capital markets.

Irwin helped establish WCM while she was a vice president at Burns Fry — and one of just two management-level women in the firm’s investment-banking department. She co-chaired a committee that sought to determine whether there were barriers facing women in the industry, and what actions could be taken to dismantle those barriers. Says Irwin: “The issue of a lack of women on the professional side of the securities business was becoming more evident.”

This was a business issue for firms, which realized they might be missing out on valuable talent by failing to attract and retain female candidates, Irwin adds: “The industry needs to have the best and the brightest. [If it doesn’t], then the industry won’t do as well.”

UNWRITTEN RULES

One key issue, the committee determined, was that women had few female colleagues to relate to and learn from in their quest to advance in the industry. “It’s hard when there’s so few of you,” Irwin says. “There’s no one to look up to, for you to model yourself after. There are a lot of unwritten rules that are a lot harder to figure out.”@page_break@Thus the committee recommended creating an association that would bring together women in the industry. After finding considerable appetite for it, Irwin and several senior-level women at other firms formed a steering committee that established WCM. Irwin chaired the committee and became president when WCM launched in June 1995, holding the position for three years.

WCM originally had a membership base of about 200, which has more than quadrupled since. WCM activities include regular networking and professional-development events, as well as a mentorship program and the Heather L. Main Memorial Scholarship Fund, which helps female graduate students build skills and experience for a career in capital markets.

Irwin continues to co-chair the mentorship program; she also sits on the management committee of the scholarship fund.

Irwin’s efforts to promote the success of women in the industry extend beyond WCM. At Rotman, at which she teaches MBA-level finance courses, Irwin actively encourages students to pursue careers in finance: “I think I can have more influence … encouraging more women to get into the business [by] being an adjunct professor than I could [with] my role in finance directly. I get to them before decisions are made.”

But with women comprising only 15%-20% of the students in these finance classes, the pool of candidates is already very limited. This is probably one reason the proportion of women in high-level capital markets positions hasn’t improved in recent years.

WCM had commissioned studies between 2000 and 2008 that found that during that period, the proportion of women holding “line positions” — those involving profits and losses, revenue generation or direct client responsibility — had remained the same, at 17%. Experience in these positions is considered important for advancement into the highest levels in the industry.

Irwin says that some factors deterring women from entering the industry are its reputation for being male-dominated, highly demanding and offering little work/life flexibility. But while some of these perceptions are justified, she says, others are false or exaggerated: “Fewer women apply because of the profile, the reputation, that the industry has. Certain people are saying, ‘The lifestyle is not something that we want’.”

Irwin says the industry must make greater efforts to attract and retain women: “I don’t think you can say, ‘It will happen naturally; just give it time.’ There needs to be more emphasis on it. There are systematic changes that would be more helpful for women.”

For instance, she believes firms should provide more support for individuals who take parental leave by establishing structured programs to reintegrate them into the workplace afterward. In addition, Irwin says, criteria for promotion must be clear, transparent and well disseminated: “The more these are based on merit and open, objective criteria, the more women will move ahead.”

To retain women, Irwin says, firms should ensure that all promising young recruits have active career mentors.

Outside of teaching and the WCM, Irwin is also executive director at the Canadian Securities Institute Research Foundation, which encourages and supports research that will benefit Canadian capital markets.

Irwin has three children, ages 17, 15 and 12. She enjoys running and participating in skiing and other sports with her family. IE