Today our group went to an interview at Goldman Sachs with Susie Scher, a managing director and senior partner at the company. Susie has been working at the company for about 25 years, and in our interview she described what it was like to climb the corporate ladder in a male dominated industry. She told us that when she first started out in the company, she had few female role models to look up to, and all of them had chosen work over family. Susie knew that she wanted to have kids, but also wanted to continue her work as a banker. She and her female peers have paved the way at Goldman Sachs for the future generations of women in the company. When Susie first started working in investment banking after college, she was the only woman on her floor. At the time, the men were legally allowed to say anything to her, and many made inappropriate comments about her personal life. She faced many challenges, for example, sometimes the men at her firm would hire a stripper to come for someone’s birthday, and she would have to ignore it. Now, Susie uses her individuality as one of the few women at her position to her advantage. Clients will remember her because she stood out from the men that were trying for the same position. Currently at Goldman Sachs, there has never been a femal CEO, but people at the top of the company are looking for more women to join them. The glass ceiling has certainly raised since Susie started her career.
