The bawling strutting male is no longer the Dealer King and with

The bawling, strutting male is no longer the Dealer King, and with computing skills and good maths in demand, women could now find it easier to muscle in. Though that seems unlikely unless they are specifically targeted - especially given the recent awful tribunal publicity. Of course, change will be slow until there is a critical mass of women. Jodie has entered dangerous territory for she has become pregnant.

Many successful City women return from maternity leave to find someone sitting in their seat Most go quietly, with a large pay-off. To make a public fuss is to risk never working in the City again.Charlotte, 33, a City fund manager, says she has yet to encounter overt personal discrimination at the "soft end" of finance She suspects that this is about to change. The most senior woman in her company, she is about to get married and wants to start a family. "The three women who previously held my position were all sacked after giving birth. I could not make it any plainer that getting married and having children makes no difference to my commitment to my career, but we'll see what happens."The City's inability to offer a balance between job and home does not offend just women Many men feel aggrieved, too Many hate the daily humiliation - racist as well as sexist. But disillussioned men still tend to play along with the City game.

In the atmosphere of the playground you're a sissy if you side with the girls. Things have improved since the City Women's Network - just a handful of senior women executives - first met in 1979, in secret because they feared a backlash. At graduate entry level, there are many more women in City firms, and yet some surveys put female board membership as low as 3 per cent.Consultant Helena Dennison, of CWN, believes the City will become more hospitable to women as business recognises the value of "softer" skills such as empathy, rapport building and counselling, and that women, and the right men, will depose the Old Boys who believe feelings belong at home, in Kent.But that will take time. "The City is soul-less and immature and that's why it's full of kids," says broker Greg, who recently got out. He argues that women leave in droves because they are more discerning than men about what constitutes a worthwhile life Jodie is also disillusioned.