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Onto the Global Stage: The 1960s and the
End of Parochialism
The History of Women in Royal Bank
Jennie Moore was probably the first woman employed by Royal Bank, hired as a stenographer at Vancouver branch in 1902. During the First World War, women moved to the front-line as tellers, establishing a public presence for the first time. Following the war, many women remained in the branches, but returned to their pre-war positions of clerks and stenographers.
The proportion of women working in the bank remained basically the same from 1919 until the outbreak of the Second World War when the men enlisted, leaving many branches staffed entirely by women except for the manager. In 1939, 21 percent of the bank's staff was female; by 1945, the proportion was 71 percent, and would stay close to that level in the post-war era. During the Second World War, women again advanced to more public positions such as teller and accountant, but never manager.
On the Periphery |
 Before the Second World War the bank was a thoroughly male-dominated workplace, and women were largely restricted to clerical positions. In this typical staff portrait, from the Sydney Nova Scotia branch in 1910, the lone woman, probably a stenographer, stands to the side. |
The appointment of Georgette St. Cyr as manager of Place Longueuil branch in 1968 opened the door for Royal Bank women to be promoted to management positions. Since lack of training had partially held woman back from advancing into managerial positions, a special management-training course was organized in 1973 as a catch-up measure. 1977 saw the creation of the Advisory Task Force on the Status of Women in Royal Bank of Canada, mandated to examine the bank's systems and practices towards women. The Task Force's recommendations dealing with mobility, training, assessment of potential and job opportunities for women still form the basis of policies in these areas today. In 1979, an Equal Employment Opportunity program was established, the first of its kind for a Canadian bank.
Since 1977, the number of women in higher positions within the bank has risen dramatically. By 1992 women represented 75 percent of the total bank staff. At the executive level, women have gone from holding one percent of positions in 1987, to eight percent in 1992, and to 23 percent across RBC Financial Group in 2001. Suzanne Labarge was appointed Royal Bank's first woman executive in 1979 and first female Vice-Chairman in 1999. Women have been members of the Board of Directors since the 1970s: Mitzi Dobrin, the first woman Director, was appointed in 1976.
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