Just One-Fifth Of Goldman Sachs Execs Are Women

Around 21 percent of U.S. executives or senior officials at Goldman Sachs Group Inc are women, according to statistics published Thursday as part of the bank's annual Environmental, Social and Governance Report.

That percentage is below the 29 percent national average of senior officials in U.S. finance and insurance who are women, according to the most recent data from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Women made up 48 percent of midlevel officials and managers in the United States within finance and insurance, compared with 26 percent at Goldman.

Asked to comment on the 21 percent figure, a Goldman spokesman said: "Goldman Sachs is committed to fostering a work environment that values diverse backgrounds and perspectives."

Around 37 percent of total U.S. employees at Goldman are women, the report said.

In 2015, Goldman said a quarter of its new managing directors that year were women, the highest percentage in the bank's history.

The bank has several efforts in place to retain female employees, including a program that helps those who have left the workforce for two or more years to restart their careers and a six-month initiative aimed at developing third- and second-year associates.

(Reporting by Olivia Oran in New York; Editing by Matthew Lewis)