Breaking Financial Barriers: Empowering Women to Excel
Ready to talk about representation in hedge funds, investment banking, and equity?! This week, we chat with Dajana and Pall, a duo from the RaiseHER Co. & U of R Champions of Change Club’s She’s Here mentorship program, who are dedicated to dismantling obstacles for women in the financial industry through their mentorship project!
Off the hop, we explore gender disparities in finance and strategies for empowerment while busting some common myths about women and money. We reveal that women don't outspend men on average, tend to make more frequent but smaller impulse purchases, and are less likely to invest traditionally but often perform better when they do.
We also discuss the "broken rung" effect, where women face barriers to career progression, including a scarcity of mentors, work-life balance challenges, and perceived competition. We highlight women's underrepresentation in senior roles and the impact of gender biases.
Our guests, Dajana, a finance leader, and Pall, a student and advocate, share insights into their own experiences and their mentorship project product: Women in Finance and Equity (WIFE). They discuss gender disparities, challenges in finance, and the importance of empowering girls in finance. WIFE aims to empower and educate girls about the finance world through annual programs, workshops, and speaker sessions. The project will kick off with a panel discussion sometime in 2024 featuring women keynote speakers sharing their journeys in finance.
WIFE definitely works to address gender equity issues in the financial sector, but we also explore other initiatives currently at work, including mentorship programs, remote work options, and diversified leadership pipelines. Like any sector, one of the biggest takeaways is that financial institutions can foster a more inclusive environment by addressing persistent challenges and promoting diversity.
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This is the final presentation shared by Dajana and Pall:
Resources:
https://quantic.edu/blog/2022/08/05/why-are-there-so-few-women-in-finance-9-remarkable-stats/#
https://www.thefemword.world/the-word/spent-myths-confronting-stereotypes-about-women-amp-money
https://n26.com/en-eu/blog/damaging-money-stereotypes#:~:text=Likewise%2C%20in%20a%202021%20study,are%20inherently%20bad%20with%20money.