Young people are ‘looking for a commitment’ to a diversified insurance industry

When the FCA announced it had no intention to take its regulatory proposals on diversity and inclusion (D&I) forward back in March, the onus to pursue these goals shifted to individual employers. 

In the same month, Insurance Times columnist Kelly Ogley noted that she believed this decision was the right one, as it reframed D&I goals from a performative, tick box exercise to something that should be legitimately pursued for their own benefits.

And while the general consensus is that hiring a diverse workforce is simply the right thing to do, younger people entering the industry are more concerned with the way firms actually integrate, adapt to and sustain an inclusive culture. 

Being able to sense corporate commitment to these inclusive goals and practices via actions, rather than simple lip service, will determine their decision to stay in the industry long-term.

Nikki Bennett, managing director at compliance firm UKGI, believes that “increasingly, these days, new talent coming in is looking for a commitment” to D&I from firms, as it is these values that “younger generations prioritise in the places they want to work”.

Speaking to Insurance Times, Bennett said: “It’s something that they look for openly – what is a firm’s commitment? What does its cultural footprint look like?

“[It is about] being more representative of what you’re trying to achieve, whether that’s having a business that’s quite entrepreneurial and creative or whether that’s a very specific customer base.”

Bennett stressed that by “retaining talent that feels psychologically safe” and “valued” no matter what their background is, firms were “future proofing” their “innovation pipelines.”

Attracting and retaining young talent has always been an uphill battle for the insurance sector – especially in terms of women and minority groups – and as the issue grows, so does the conversation. 

This year Biba hosted the first Women in Insurance Breakfast during the annual conference in Manchester (15 May 2025), which united a room of nearly 200 via a panel chaired by Biba’s compliance sustainability and advisory boards’ manager Vanessa Young.

Bennett recalled that, when she first started attending Biba, she “could probably count the number of women there on [her] hands”, whereas the Women in Insurance event highlighted that “things are definitely changing”.

Emma Chapman, Biba conference director, added: “With our conference theme this year as A New Era, we wanted to create a new space to celebrate the women in our industry where they could come together, network and share insights.

“We would love it to be the start of something much bigger – a forum for women in insurance to interact throughout the year and then reunite each May at The Biba conference.”

Creating spaces

Carpenters Group sponsored the Women in Insurance Breakfast, with director Donna Scully planning and participating as a panellist, which she said she was happy to do because she believed that “creating spaces where women can be seen, heard and celebrated” was “vital.”

She said: “We need to tell our stories better. Too many young women don’t see themselves in this industry because they don’t see people like them in leadership roles.

“That’s why I mentor, speak at schools and support initiatives like the Insurance Breakfast Club and Ican. We must show them that insurance isn’t just spreadsheets – it’s purpose, people and progress.”

Scully explained that this change “starts at the top” and that, while progress has been made to the retention of women in senior positions, “it’s fragile”.

She added: “At Carpenters, we’ve worked hard to create a culture where women can thrive at every stage – from flexible working to leadership development. But the industry as a whole still has work to do.

“The best firms are listening more, offering better support and recognising that one-size-fits-all doesn’t work.”

Attracting school-leavers

One indication of the future workforce for the sector is the make-up of early career and apprenticeship programmes – it is easy to see how success here can easily translate into future success where D&I is concerned. 

For Clare Connor, talent management and programmes lead at RSA Early Careers and Apprenticeships, the early career space is “making strides” with its 50/50 gender balance across over 50 programs.

This goal has been achieved despite it being harder ”getting [girls] through the door in the first place”, said Connor.

Speaking to Insurance Times, she explained that RSA has developed a schools and outreach programme to work with young people as early as 11, following research that revealed a “need to start breaking that mould a bit earlier”.

She said this was because in later teen years, young people have “already made their mind up and they’ve already got views on certain sectors or certain roles”.

“We’re thinking much longer term and learning a lot about the next generation – what they’re into, what their thoughts are on the world,” she added.

“They’re going to be in the workplace in a couple of years, so we’re trying to do a lot of work in terms of understanding them [to] make sure that we can attract them into the sector.” 

In terms of RSA’s Early Careers apprenticeships, Connor explained that the program she leads achieved 80% retention in 2022 and 87% in 2023.

And while this success in entry and retention of women in insurance is promising, Connor said that she believes it is women in the “middle layer” of age profile who were “trying to push into leadership” that still required attention and focus.

Caroline Taylor, chief operating officer at Acies MGU, added that when women were promoted into leadership roles, the people replacing the vacated role were “typically another layer of our male counterparts”.

She continued: “When it comes to promotions, we still have that ongoing challenge that [there will be fewer women to step up] unless companies look outside of the business, as opposed to it just being a simple next in line.”

Diversifying processes

As a woman with 25 years’ working in the industry, Taylor told Insurance Times that she believes she has more women than men in her network because she actively chooses to support women. 

She recalled an example that illustrated the necessity for this focus, noting that a team at her company were hiring entry-level roles and had hired a teenage boy every time the role needed to be filled.

When she enquired with the hiring manager about why they had recruited an all-male team, she was told that “he didn’t get a single CV from a young woman”.

This set off an alarm in Taylor’s mind and prompted her to ponder a question that she believes the industry must also consider.

She concluded: “We have to ask ourselves what it is about these processes that [make women and minority groups] feel that this industry is not open to them.”