Sallie Krawcheck's departure from Citigroup this week made it official: The trio of female executives at the top of the field—Zoe Cruz, formerly Morgan Stanley's co-president; Erin Callan, previously Lehman Brothers' chief financial officer; and now Krawcheck, most recently Citigroup's head of wealth management and formerly its C.F.O.—has disappeared from Wall Street.

So what does the decimation of women at the top mean for the women on their way there? With Cruz, Callan, and Krawcheck out, the industry's most powerful women are all well below C-level. And promotion rates for women are anemic. In January, just 35 of the 258 managing directors Citigroup promoted were women; the now-defunct Lehman Brothers only upped 23 out of 199, and Barclays Capital promoted a paltry 5 out of 80. A report issued in February by Catalyst Research confirmed the dismal picture, finding that women make up just 3.7 percent of C.E.O.'s in the finance and insurance industries.

But the same study indicated that the next generation of women in finance could change the situation. Women now make up 38.7 percent of the overall industry workforce and account for more than a third of financial analysts (34.3 percent).

While there may be a dearth of women actually running banks, they are making notable progress in wealth management and global operations, divisions that are taking on new importance as Wall Street refashions itself following the recent shocks. Bank of America's Frances Aldrich Sevilla-Sacasa, who heads up wealth management, and Amy Woods Brinkley, who runs global risk, both made the Wall Street Journal's "50 Women to Watch" list last year—and could creep further into the spotlight following B. of A.'s acquisition of Merrill Lynch. Also on that list were Naina Lal Kidwai, HSBC's India group head, and Wei Christianson, head of China operations for Morgan Stanley. And there's also Mary Erdoes and Ellyn McColgan, who head up wealth management for J. P. Morgan and Morgan Stanley, respectively.

Though the sector's present turmoil will lead to lost jobs on Wall Street across the board—up to 40,000, by some estimates—the refocusing and reorganizing to come could benefit women. "One of the few areas growing is wealth management," says Janet Hanson, founder of the women's career-connection network 85 Broads. "And in the wealth-management space, [female] talent is growing."

In fact, Hanson adds, it's Wall Street that stands to lose out on women—not the other way around. "It's so wrenching, the hiring and firing that's been going on now for about two years," she says. "I think you will see far fewer women coming out of graduate school and wanting to work on Wall Street, because the risk profile is ridiculously high."

And for the notable women who have been burned by that risk, Hanson says, there always seems to be a silver lining. "We'll have to wait and find out what Zoe Cruz does, but she had dozens of job offers" after being fired, says Hanson. Similarly, Erin Callan quickly landed a post heading up Credit Suisse's hedge fund business after exiting Lehman Brothers.

"I would bet the ranch that right now Sallie Krawcheck's phone lines are melting," says Hanson. "There will always be bids for the best talent."