“Women on Wall Street have a hard time arguing with the money to be made, but a survey released yesterday of men and women at seven major securities firms suggests that many women are dissatisfied with the extent of progress that has been made to help women advance in the securities industry,” writes Reed Abelson in today’s New York Times.

“The findings reaffirm an impression by many women on Wall Street that the industry remains inhospitable.”

“It’s extremely disheartening to see how far we have not come,” said Alexandra Lebenthal, who heads her family’s Wall Street firm and has been in the business for about 15 years.”

“Most of the nearly 500 women who responded to the survey conducted by Catalyst, a nonprofit research and advisory organization in New York, say they are happy with their jobs, citing the challenging work and generous compensation.”

“But they also describe an industry where it is difficult to get ahead. Two-thirds say that they must work harder than men for the same rewards, and a third report a hostile environment where crude or sexist comments are tolerated, they are treated unfairly or are subject to unwanted sexual attention.”

“The survey, which is the first extensive look at the experiences of women working on Wall Street, also suggests that many women are making significant sacrifices in their personal lives, similar to the ones made by lawyers and other professionals. Only half of the women surveyed have children, compared with about three-quarters of the men surveyed. In a 1996 survey of senior women at Fortune 1000 companies, about two-thirds had children. Two- thirds of the Wall Street women were married or living with a partner, compared with 86 percent of the men.”

“While women praise the efforts of the securities firms generally to promote an atmosphere of respect, they say this has not yet translated into a workplace free of harassment or one that can be seen as a true meritocracy. Fewer than half of both men and women said they thought that promotion decisions were made fairly at their firm. “Cultural change is very tough to make happen,” said Sheila Wellington, the president of Catalyst.”