Gender diversity is increasing among graduates working in the financial industry, according to data collected for the 2017 edition of the Financial Times ranking of masters in finance programmes.

The proportion of enrolled female students has increased steadily since the ranking began six years ago to 42 per cent among the most recent cohorts. This is low compared with the 48 per cent of female students on masters in management courses but compares favourably with the 35 per cent in MBA programmes.

The 2017 rankings feature the top 60 pre-experience courses for students with little or no background in the industry and the top six post-experience programmes for professionals already working in the sector. Only a handful of schools offer post-experience courses.