RIBA linking women, mentors

CAREER PATH: BankNewport President and CEO Sandra J. Pattie co-chaired the Rhode Island Bankers Association's first Women in Banking Forum on June 9. Pattie said her industry offers great career opportunities for women. / PBN FILE PHOTO/RUPERT WHITELEY
CAREER PATH: BankNewport President and CEO Sandra J. Pattie co-chaired the Rhode Island Bankers Association's first Women in Banking Forum on June 9. Pattie said her industry offers great career opportunities for women. / PBN FILE PHOTO/RUPERT WHITELEY

Sandra J. Pattie fights a constant battle against the perception of the banking industry as being a conservative, stodgy group of paper pushers.

“Banking today is very dynamic, offering opportunities in consultative sales roles, technical support and cybersecurity. [It] offers great career opportunities and traditionally focuses on the needs of the communities we serve,” said the president and CEO of BankNewport.

And it is especially important to Pattie to promote that message to women, she says. That’s because, while she is not alone, there are far fewer women than men who hold senior-level positions in the local banking industry.

On June 9 Pattie co-chaired the Rhode Island Bankers Association’s first Women in Banking Forum with Barbara Cottam, executive vice president and Rhode Island market executive for Citizens Bank, at the Crowne Plaza Providence-Warwick in Warwick. The event was promoted by the statewide organization as an opportunity for the women of Rhode Island’s banking industry to network in person.

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Pattie explained that while the Rhode Island banking industry is very small, and most senior bankers are very familiar with one another, the forum provided an opportunity to reconnect and meet new professionals, a luxury not many have the time to enjoy.

“Today, [face-to-face] interaction has been replaced by telephone meetings and webinars, much of that career support that occurred naturally among peers has disappeared. … We must provide outreach and support to help younger people navigate, balance and thrive within our industry,” she said.

The goal of the forum was to facilitate introductions between female entry- and mid-level managers with senior and C-suite-level female executives.

“There is a lot of wisdom to be shared without sharing competitive information,” said Pattie.

In the long run she would like to foster an atmosphere in which the women of RIBA can share their career experiences, learn from one another and feel comfortable doing so.

However, “that trust doesn’t develop overnight,” she said.

It was important to Pattie to chair an industry-specific event geared toward women because she believes barriers blocking women from climbing the executive ladder still exist in the workplace.

“It’s important to have female leaders in all roles – profit, nonprofit, government – to be able to be role models to our younger generation. There shouldn’t be any barriers, for any reason, in any industry, but unfortunately there are,” she said.

Yet, what Pattie called the industry’s “most appealing aspects,” stability and low turnover, can work against the industry.

“There are only so many senior positions locally, so the sheer number of opportunities to be considered for is limited,” she explained.

One solution Pattie believes could help increase the industry’s gender diversity is the creation of lateral positions, propelling employees in equally challenging ways, with the goal of achieving a similar sense of satisfaction.

According to the R.I. Department of Labor and Training, almost 5,000 women comprise 66.9 percent of the Rhode Island banking industry, including savings and depository institutions, credit unions and commercial banking – not all of whom are members of RIBA. Providence Business News last September reported that women account for roughly 35 percent of the industry’s senior-management positions and only 20 percent of the C-suite roles.

RIBA President Anthony Botelho thinks those numbers will only improve for women. “The time when the ‘man of the house’ made all of the family financial decisions or when the corporate boardroom was male-dominated either no longer exists or is in the process of changing,” he said.

Patricia Octeau is RIBA’s first female executive director in the organization’s 100-year history.

One of her main goals is to work with members to promote the banking industry’s recruitment of female graduates from local high schools, colleges and universities. She said there are multiple positions that are “well-suited” to all women – from those with families needing flexible schedules to multilingual women from varied backgrounds.

While she knows RIBA’s resources are limited, she hopes the forum will attract more women to the banking industry.

“It would be unrealistic to believe that all of our objectives can be achieved overnight but remaining focused on improving the position of women in the Rhode Island banking community will hopefully have some positive, long-term benefits,” she said. •

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