The project “Gender Equality in Change: Challenges and Opportunities When the Global Financial Market Logic Meets the Nordic Work–Family Model” compiles, communicates, and highlights new research on central dynamics related to time, replaceability, and rewards in portfolio careers (typical of Front Finance: investment banking, asset management, and corporate banking/large clients), compared with employee career paths (more common in retail banking/personal clients and back office).
The dissemination project builds on new insights from ongoing research in the project “Gender Equality in Change in the Financial Sector,” funded by the ABGSC Women in Finance Foundation.
This project will communicate key findings from new analyses of three qualitative datasets from the Norwegian financial industry, viewed in light of studies from the United States and the United Kingdom. The financial sector in Norway is described as a highly attractive field of employment for both women and men. Nevertheless, long and unpredictable working days—where enormous monetary values are at stake—challenge the work–family balance, often resulting in gender inequality. In this project, we will specifically examine dynamics related to responsibility and rewards in portfolio careers versus traditional careers in the Nordic financial sector. Furthermore, we will delve more deeply into the conditions that create and sustain long and unpredictable working days. We will particularly analyze how dynamics such as competition for clients and projects, work across time zones, the constant and unpredictable activity of financial markets, and workflow during large transactions influence working hours and the ability to plan the workweek. We will also examine how men and women with and without children navigate these conditions, and the consequences of different strategies.
Key research questions: How are the conditions for work–family balance and gender equality affected by these dynamics? What strategies do women and men in different parts of the financial sector use to manage time and reward dynamics, and to what extent do these strategies depart from the Nordic work–family model? What are the short- and long-term costs of different approaches to parental leave across segments of the financial sector? What are the consequences for gender equality and work–family balance, and is there potential for change?
This project contributes to increased awareness of gender equality in the Nordic financial industry by identifying current and specific challenges arising from the sector’s distinctive logic, in one of the world’s most gender-equal countries. At the same time, we will identify remaining challenges and potential solutions for achieving greater gender equality in the financial sector.
Publications
Halrynjo, S. & Myklebust, R.B. (2025). Availability and substitutability in finance. Gender equality challenges when the dynamics of the global financial market meet the Norwegian work-family model. https://hdl.handle.net/11250/5328118
Op-ed: (U)likestilling i finans – når tilgjengelighet blir kapital – E24 16.12.2025 Halrynjo, S. & Myklebust, R.B.
Halrynjo, S. & Myklebust, R.B. (2026). Dual Dynamics of Worktime: Gendered Work–Family Dilemmas of Worktime‐as‐Investment and Worktime‐as‐Agreement. Gender, Work & Organization. http://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.70186
Op-ed: https://www.omfif.org/gender-balance-index-2026-report / April 2026
