Researchers from the University of Otago and RMIT University in Melbourne studied the reasons why women were only a small proportion of financial advisers in Australia and New Zealand.

Women are only 20% of Australian and 23.5% of New Zealand "financial advising professionals".

Helen Roberts, a senior lecturer in the University of Otago's department of accountancy and finance, said competitive sales-based structures, servicing client needs, difficulties networking, a dominant masculine management culture and the gendered nature of flexible work were getting in the way of women's financial advice career.

“These factors aren’t necessarily wrong from an employment law perspective, however we’ve discovered they significantly impact career progression and job satisfaction for female advisers,” Roberts said.

Her co-author, associate professor Ros Whiting, said women talked about male-dominated networking events and being uncomfortable with experiences "centred around alcohol".

"Those type of events might work well for men in a male-dominated industry, however for a female adviser they are often a negative experience, and the women prefer to network in other ways."

The authors said women were often the primary family caregiver and it could be difficult for them to attend after-hours events.

Daniel Richards, a researcher at RMIT, said women were using strategies such as finding the "right" manager, receiving mentoring, selective networking and forming partnerships with other advisers.

The study said the industry could help by normalising part-time work opportunities, providing a variety of networking opportunities, promoting changes in culture to champion women and developing strategies to allow women's selective networking techniques to flourish.

Because there were now more women investing, there were opportunities for advisers to do well if the conditions were suitable.