#MeToo side effects: Life gets harder for women across Wall Street

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#MeToo side effects: Life gets harder for women across Wall Street
#MeToo side effects: Life gets harder for women across Wall Street

New Delhi : Men at the Wall Street are adopting a different set of strategies to combat #MeToo era, started on social media. 

Among the new tactics, some are "No more dinners with female colleagues. Don't sit next to them on flights. Book hotel rooms on different floors. Avoid one-on-one meetings." The adaptations by men are only making life of women at the wall street harder.

Call it the Pence Effect, after U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, who has said he avoids dining alone with any woman other than his wife. In finance, the overarching impact can be, in essence, gender segregation.

In fact, as a wealth adviser put it, just hiring a woman these days is "an unknown risk." What if she took something he said the wrong way?

In this charged environment, the question is how the response to me #MeToo might actually end up hurting women's progress. Given the male dominance in Wall Street's top jobs, one of the most pressing consequences for women is the loss of male mentors who can help them climb the ladder.

"There aren't enough women in senior positions to bring along the next generation all by themselves," said Lisa Kaufman, chief executive officer of LaSalle Securities. "Advancement typically requires that someone at a senior level knows your work, gives you opportunities and is willing to champion you within the firm. It's hard for a relationship like that to develop if the senior person is unwilling to spend one-on-one time with a more junior person."

Men have to step up, she said, and "not let fear be a barrier."