Sherman & Tookes (2022) report that in a sample of Finance faculty at top-100 U.S. business schools during 2009 to 2017, only 16.0% are women. The gender imbalance manifests in several ways. Women hold positions at lower ranked institutions and are less likely to be full professors. Results also suggest that they are paid less. Second, women publish fewer papers. This gender gap exists in research quantity, not quality. The current study wishes to investigate why there are so few women in Finance and Accounting in the academy and why they often fail to progress into leadership roles. Twenty-eight female academics including BAME and women living in trans interviewed in several Higher Education Institutions (HEI), to explore how gender diversity could be tackled within the sector. The research may reveal that senior management teams (SMTs) avoid hiring women as employees and/or managers/leaders because they have to “interrupt” their career due to maternity and are often unable to reconcile their family commitments with the long working hours required. The article will offer recommendations for HR managers, policymakers and senior leadership and management teams in the HEI. The current study will hopefully provide significant insights into female Finance academics’ challenges in terms of their career advancement. It will also try to explore how race affects female Finance academics’ career progression. Consequently, we may offer more suggestions to SMTs who wish to foster inclusion. Inability to deal with this lack of the female perspectives in the Finance sector in the academy may affect the performance of specific universities and the recruitment of female students in Finance and Accounting studies if they tend to disregard these issues. The overall aim of this study is to increase support provided to female Finance academics i.e., via mentoring, and to facilitate their recruitment and progression in the academy. Finally, there is a need for an EDI strategy that will surely align with the overall HEI’s objectives and will be communicated effectively throughout the HE sector with metrics to measure success and ensure sustainability.