Diversity initiatives in financial services are failing to attract sufficient support from men because they are not seen as an integral part of the business process, according to research by Financial News.

The findings of the Women in Finance Survey 2017 – which polled 746 women working in European financial services – show that male participation in diversity initiatives is declining, with respondents reporting lower attendance by men and senior management at diversity and networking forums than a year ago by a margin of 7 percentage points, from 61% to 54%. At the same time, the percentage of women with male sponsors has also fallen marginally from 23% in 2016 to 21%, despite two-thirds of women saying they would value a male sponsor higher than a female one.