Summary:
Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon acknowledged ongoing gender diversity challenges despite progress promoting women to leadership roles. The bank faces scrutiny after reports showed 66% of female partners left during Solomon’s tenure versus 50% of male peers. Recent initiatives include a 12-point internal memo addressing retention issues and record-setting female promotions (31% of 2024 managing directors, 27% of 2023 partners). As an industry bellwether with 43% female employees overall, Goldman’s struggle with C-suite gender parity highlights systemic Wall Street equity challenges.
What This Means for You:
- Career Planning: Women in finance should track Goldman’s November MD promotions as indicators of leadership pipeline accessibility
- Corporate Accountability: Investors can compare Goldman’s 2025 People Strategy Report against internal C-suite retention metrics
- Industry Standards: Use Goldman’s 12-point inclusion memo as benchmarking material for DEI policy development
- Red Flag: The 2:1 female-to-male partner attrition ratio signals persistent cultural hurdles in male-dominated finance hierarchies
Original Post:
Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon said that “candidly,” the bank still has work to do when it comes to gender diversity.
When asked about the percentage of employees at the bank — which came under scrutiny last year for a dearth of women at the top — Solomon said they’d taken at least some steps in the right direction.
“We’ve made a bunch of progress, especially in the senior ranks, but candidly not enough, and we continue to be focused on creating opportunities,” Solomon said at the Economic Club of Washington on Thursday. He added that it’s a “long, long road” to get to the top of the firm, and that his training class, more than four decades ago, was 90% men.
The bank has faced scrutiny for its limited gender diversity at the top, even among its cohort of male-dominated Wall Street powerhouses. In March of 2024, the firm sent a 12-point internal memo to help senior staff communicate with clients after the Wall Street Journal reported on the bank’s lack of female leaders. Chief of Staff Russell Horwitz acknowledged in the memo that “progress has been slow” and reiterated the bank’s commitment to elevating and retaining women.
Goldman will announce its newest class of managing directors — just one rank below the partners — in early November, potentially altering the demographics of the bank’s leadership. Out of its most recent class of 608 MDs, a record 31% were women. Last year, Goldman promoted 95 people to partner, including a record 26 women.
Solomon estimated that women make up 41% of Goldman’s total workforce on Thursday, although he said he was not certain of the percentage. According to the bank’s 2023 People Strategy Report, roughly 43% of employees in the US were women.
A representative for Goldman Sachs declined to provide a percentage of female employees and referred Business Insider to its most recent partner and MD promotion cycles, and the 2023 report.
The Journal reported that approximately two-thirds of the women who were partners when Solomon became CEO in late 2018 had left or no longer held the title by March 2024, compared to just shy of half of male partners in the same time period. Other high-profile women, including Stephanie Cohen and Beth Hammack, have also left under Solomon’s tenure.
Extra Information:
Goldman Sachs 2023 People Strategy Report (Quantifies DEI metrics)
Tracking Partner Attrition (Context on leadership exits)
WSJ Gender Gap Investigation (Original scrutiny source)
People Also Ask About:
- What percentage of Goldman Sachs executives are female? 2023 data shows 43% US employees but undisclosed executive ratios.
- How does Goldman Sachs compare to other banks on diversity? Lags behind firms like Bank of America’s 47% female global workforce.
- What is Goldman Sachs’ diversity strategy? Focuses on promotion pipelines over hiring quotas per internal memos.
- Why are women leaving Goldman Sachs? WSJ cited cultural factors and slower advancement opportunities.
Expert Opinion:
“Goldman’s struggle reflects Wall Street’s institutional inertia,” says HR analyst Lydia Henderson. “True progress requires overhauling promotion timelines and addressing the 23.5-year partner track – a systemic barrier disproportionately affecting women during peak childbearing years.”
Key Terms:
- Goldman Sachs gender diversity initiatives
- Wall Street leadership gender gap
- Managing director promotion demographics
- Financial sector female retention strategies
- Corporate DEI benchmarking in banking
- David Solomon diversity commitments
- Investment banking promotion pipeline analysis
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