N°23-23: Gender, Performance, and Promotion in the Labor Market for Commercial Bankers

Using data from the US syndicated loan market, we find women to be underrepresented among senior commercial bankers. This gap persists due to unequal promotion rates for men and women at the same institution in the same year, and cannot be explained by different individual or managerial performance. The gap is influenced more by individuals than by institutions, with senior bankers showing assortative matching when changing jobs, and perpetuating the gender gap from their previous workplace. Our findings suggest that the gender gap may be partially attributable to women taking on more family care responsibilities. Hard credentials or female leadership at the top of banks do not alleviate the gender gap, but targeted gender discrimination lawsuits and female leadership on the local level result in increased promotion of women.