Like a frat on steroids - what it's like being a woman at Goldman Sachs

(getty images)

Greg Smith, a former Goldman Sachs employee, caused an almighty stir earlier this year when he authored a column in the New York Times on what it's actually like working at Goldman Sachs. He later followed up with a book, which caused a stir that was bigger than an almighty stir, which is a very big stir indeed. Now, our distinguished friends at the Atlantic have published an anonymous piece by a former Goldman colleague - this time on what it's like being a woman at the fabled bank.

Here's a flavour: "I don't know, then, what kind of woman is the proper type to succeed at Goldman. Even in benign ways, the place was a giant man-cave. The annual industry citations from Institutional Investorthat the analysts strived for were all sports metaphors: making the "All Star" team, or, even better, to be chosen as a Hall of Famer. It seems to me that in order to be the kind of good-humored "team player" that would smilingly go to Scores or on a booze-filled golf retreat, you'd also have to be the kind of person to negate your extra X chromosome, i.e., you'd have to be the kind of person to negate who you really are. What woman, really, could sit in her power suit and convincingly enjoy a pair of breasts swinging in the face while her male colleagues and clients ogle g-strings?"