In Search of the Elusive Female

Actuary

Context

Actuarial profession heavily male dominated (85%)At UCT we attract a relatively high proportion of women

into the program (35%), but struggle to retain themMaterial presented today is exploratory – still at initial

stages of researchQuantitative material: some initial figures – both for the

profession and for UCTQualitative material: 2 in-depth interviews held with

qualified actuaries, 1 panel discussion held with current senior students

Comparable Professions?

Actuarial Professional

Skill set: mathematical,

statistical, analytical, problem

solving

Work environment: corporate, financial services, consulting

Qualification time: 7-10 years

The Profession

Data

Data obtained from the Actuarial Society of South AfricaNo data cleaning was done (yet!)Four categories of members:

“Fellows” (referred to as actuaries from now on) Associate members (only 60, ignored in this analysis) Student members Library members (ignored in this analysis)

15% of qualified actuaries in SA are women

6%

33%

27%

50%

5%

16% 15%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Black Coloured Indian Oriental Unknown White Overall

Proportions higher amongst student members

27%

34% 35%

52%

27%32% 31%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Black Coloured Indian Oriental Unknown White Overall

Numbers of women actuaries by race

2 312

2 6

111

136

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

Black Coloured Indian Oriental Unknown White Overall

Again: pipeline looks more promising

57

11

5312

60

213

406

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

Black Coloured Indian Oriental Unknown White Overall

Actuaries Student members of profession

Proportion of women by race

14% 3%

13%

3%15%

52%

Black Coloured Indian Oriental Unknown White

2% 2%

9% 1%

4%

82%

Black Coloured Indian Oriental Unknown White

Improvements over time (qualified)

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

Under 30 30-39 40-49 50-59 60+

Prop

orti

on F

emal

e

Age

Number of Women by Year of Qualification

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

1948

1952

1958

1963

1967

1970

1973

1976

1979

1982

1985

1988

1991

1994

1997

2000

2003

2006

Tota

l Num

ber

of W

omen

Fel

low

s

Year

Pat Potgieter

Margaret Carey - UK

Heather McLeod - NZ

Number of Women by Race and Year

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

2000 2001 2002 2004 2005 2006 2007

Num

ber o

f Bla

ck,

Indi

an, C

olou

red

and

Ori

enta

l Wom

en

Year

First Black SA Women

Differences by Age for Students

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

Under 25 25-29 30-34 35+ Unknown

Prop

orti

on F

emal

e

Age

Lots of questions

Relative probability of qualification? (will the student members become actuaries?)

Will improvements continue? Or have we plateaued?Are there ways of increasing the pace of change?How do we compare to other similar

professions/disciplines? Variations in time to qualification

UCT Students

Raw Data – Proportion of Females in Class

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

First Year Second Year Third Year Fourth Year

19941995199619971998199920002001200220032004200520062007200820092010

Smoothed Data – 5 Year Rolling Average

0%5%

10%15%20%25%30%35%40%

94-9

8

95-9

9

96-0

0

97-0

1

98-0

2

99-0

3

00-0

4

01-0

5

02-0

6

03-0

7

04-0

8

05-0

9

06-1

0

Prop

orti

on F

emal

e

Rolling 5 Year Period

First Year Fourth Year

Relative Persistency of Female Students

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

94-98 95-99 96-00 97-01 98-02 99-03 00-04 01-05 02-06 03-07

Crud

e 4

Year

Per

sist

ency

of

fem

ale

stud

ents

Rolling 5 Year Period

Cohort Analysis

02468

10121416

1994

1995

Possible explanations for declining relative persistency

Declining bursariesRelative attractiveness of the QF programFeel less of a need to stick with it just because you

started?

Some Qualitative Input

Reasons for choosing Actuarial ScienceInformed choice

Good at mathematics Wanted the challenge Wanted to do something “substantial” and different Wanted to be part of a profession Wanted financial security, job opportunities, status, good pay

Less informed choice By elimination... “Didn’t want to do a science degree or be a CA” Influenced by older siblings or their friends Parental expectations: status, professional qualification Generally high marks, enjoyed everything at school – hard to choose a career...

“Might as well give it a shot”, “Might as well start at the top” Find out what the hype is all about

Offered a bursary

Reasons for continuing with Actuarial Science

Positive choice Enjoyed it (“when I understood”, “all the way along”) Found it empowering: wide range of skills, stepping stone, up to you

what you want to do, access to a wide range of fields Driven by challenge

The default option “Come so far” “Stupid not to carry on” “Might as well...” Nothing else appealed to switch into

Bursary obligation

Reasons for opting out

Not wanting to put in the required hours (wanting a balance between different aspects of life)

Perception of class mates – “not truly passionate”Worth the effort if you aren’t sure you want a high

powered career?Lack of space to express non-rational parts of yourself (“if

you want to be a girl, go do it elsewhere”)Negative comments from student advisors

“with maths marks like this is it worth continuing?”

Other issues worth noting

Many moments of “this is a mistake”Opportunity for personal growth:

Learning what you’re willing to give up and what you’re not Learning to deal with failure

References to a love-hate relationship with the programOld fashioned views from families and classmates:

“Do you really want to be such a powerful woman?” You don’t have to worry about failing... “ you can just get married” “No one will marry you if you earn more than them”

Where to from here?

Literature reviewFigures from comparable disciplines/professionsFurther interrogation of UCT data – cohort analysis, time

to qualification, comparative stats with male students

The 1989 Class