In the Financial Sector, talking about diversity is nothing new, but turning it into a real engine of cultural transformation remains a pending challenge for many organizations.

In Digit Institute we interviewed Mayka Adrio Villar, executive director at BBVA, co-founder of Women in Banking And of the movement Move of Equality, who shares his expert vision on how diversity can be structurally and sustainably integrated into banking.

‍Diversity in the Financial Sector: Engine of Innovation and Competitiveness in Modern Banking

For Mayka, the starting point is to clarify what we mean by diversity:

“Diversity is knowing how to see beyond differences. It is the ability to recognize, to value and to take advantage of these differences of gender, age and origin as a source of collective wealth”.

Diversity is not a mere exercise in representation. Integrating it into culture and processes involves review biases, redesign internal rules and rethink team logic. Mayka stresses that, although diverse teams may be more complex to manage initially, their decisions are more comprehensive and their results more sustainable.

In the Financial Sector, a structural gap persists:

“There are a lot of women at the grass-roots levels, but their presence is drastically diminishing on executive committees”, says Mayka, who has made it her personal purpose to reverse this dynamic of imbalance in senior management.

From regulation to commitment: integrating diversity into banking culture

How can we avoid diversity being just a discourse or a superficial requirement? For Mayka, real change comes when she becomes part of the Organizational DNA:

“Moving from the checklist to genuine commitment involves connecting diversity with what is essential: the culture and purpose of the company”

Mayka explains that real change is achieved when diversity is connected to business purpose. This requires a double transformer lever:

• Top-down: visible leadership, with genuine commitment from top management.
  
  
• Bottom-up: internal employee networks, such as ERGs, that drive change from within.

In addition, it highlights the importance of establishing clear and measurable goals, integrated into all company processes, and to maintain constant monitoring to detect deviations.

Practical cases of diversity with an impact on banking and the Financial Sector

Among the practices that are already having an impact on the financial sector, Mayka highlights three areas:

1. Redesign of key processes

”Rewriting all vacancies with inclusive language has led to a 30% increase in women's applications”, comments Mayka. In addition, reviewing access requirements helps eliminate invisible barriers that affect female representation in leadership roles.

2. Training in unconscious biases: training those who participate in selection and promotion processes is crucial to identify and manage those biases that we all have, even if we cannot eliminate them completely.
   
   
3. Making female talent visible: mentoring and support programs make it possible to develop the potential of women with managerial projection, increasing their presence in positions of responsibility.

It also highlights initiatives for reconciliation and co-responsibility, such as The push for paternity leave or digital disconnection, which make it possible to create more egalitarian and sustainable work environments.

Sustainability of diversity in the Financial Sector: networks, mentoring and references

The great challenge is not only to initiate diversity programs, but to maintain and consolidate them in the face of changes in leadership or corporate priorities. To achieve this, Mayka defends the importance of institutionalize diversity, both in internal culture and at the sectoral level.

Women in Banking: a sectoral network to transform banking based on diversity

A prominent example is Women in Banking, the network that brings together more than 20 financial institutions in Spain with an active community of more than 300 people. His accomplishments include:

• The elaboration of first report on the situation of women in banking, to measure the real impact of diversity policies.
  
  
• The creation of a Directory of women leaders in banking, in collaboration with the Office of the European Parliament in Spain, to give visibility to experts in the sector.
  
  
• Mentoring programs, in partnership with the Complutense University of Madrid and EF, who seek to develop female talent and attract new generations to the financial field.

Mayka's vision is clear and enriching. Diversity is not a superficial commitment, but rather a strategy of cultural redesign that directly impacts the sustainability, innovation and competitiveness of financial organizations.

In a sector as regulated and competitive as banking, diversity makes it possible to make better decisions, anticipate risks and connect with a society that demands representation and transparency.

In Digit Institute, we share this vision: the transformation of the financial sector is not based only on technology or regulation, but on the ability of organizations to question their own structures, open themselves to a plurality of perspectives and build environments where diverse talent is the engine of change.

Leading the future of banking requires organizations that, like Mayka points out, know how to look beyond differences and transform that diversity into a real competitive advantage.