International Women’s Day 2020: women in finance at SumUp
Vivian Li reflects on her career as a Financial Analyst and her experiences as a woman in a male-dominated field.
Throughout March, we’re celebrating the incredible women making an impact at SumUp. While we’re proud of the fact that over 50% of SumUppers are female, we’re committed to reducing the gender gap in our engineering, finance and leadership teams. With this in mind, we caught up with a few women currently thriving in these areas.
Vivian Li is a Financial Analyst based in SumUp’s Berlin office. As part of our Corporate Development team, she deals with investors and explores opportunities around mergers and acquisitions.
Born and raised in China, she moved to the US to study at Smith College, a women’s liberal arts college in Northampton, Massachusetts. “I was a double major in Maths and Economics, but the university really encouraged us to explore our interests. It was a very artistic environment, and I I did classes in painting, art history and museum curation. What I learned in each subject wasn’t so deep, but I learned how to study and develop myself, and I think that’s more important.”
By far Vivian’s biggest takeaway from the experience, however, was a huge confidence boost. “Before I went to America for my bachelor’s degree, I wasn’t encouraged to speak up. But at Smith, I was made to feel like I had so much to offer, and I discovered I’m more capable than I thought. I also had the chance to work as a teaching assistant and organise some student activities. All of this made me feel like I could do anything I wanted after college.”
On graduating from Smith, Vivian felt compelled to explore what Europe had to offer. “Lots of my friends stayed in the US to continue with their studies, but I really wanted to continue seeing the world and broadening my horizons. So I applied to do my master’s at Humboldt University in Berlin.”
So began Vivian’s journey towards SumUp. “While I was finishing my thesis, I joined the People team as a working student. It was a great experience, I had so many opportunities to improve my communication skills. But I knew that finance was my real passion. I had the chance to speak to Marc, our CFO, about my thesis and the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) programme. And after that he handed me a fairly big finance project to look after! I was so surprised, and really not sure I’d be able to handle it. But everyone was so supportive. I learned so much, and I felt so empowered by the end. Even though I was just a student at the time, the CFO made time for me and gave me this amazing opportunity.
While being a woman in finance is hardly unusual, Vivian explains that the gender divide in the industry is still noticeable. “Before SumUp, I interned at investment banks in Hong Kong and elsewhere in Asia. There are plenty of women around, but there are still all these stereotypes that men are better at negotiating and networking. Particularly in Asia, these traits aren’t perceived to be ‘womanly’, so I think it’s still a lot easier for men to climb the ladder. But I think things are changing. And there are also positive stereotypes about women that we can use to our advantage — that we’re more detail-oriented and process-driven, for example!
Until we reach the end goal of true gender equality, Vivian feels it’s important to support initiatives specifically for women in finance. “When it comes to networking and socialising, I think the industry is still largely set up for men. Many of the investment bank Meetups and conferences are very male-dominated. And there’s still this macho culture of staying out late and drinking, which isn’t always welcoming for women. SumUp isn’t like this at all — our culture is very welcoming and diverse. But in order to close the gender gap in our teams, we should do what we can to make finance in general more appealing to women.”
As we’re wrapping up our conversation, Vivian offers some thoughts on what she can do personally to support other women in finance. “I want to break any stereotypes that remain for women — the idea that you should marry by a certain age, that you shouldn’t work so hard, that you should prioritise having children. I think women need a lot of confidence to succeed, particularly in male-dominated fields. College experience gave me this confidence, so I want to use this gift to lift up the other women I work with.”
