VIEWS FROM THE EXPERTS
How Can We Attract Young Women Into Financial Services?
Nicola Sutton
Director of Practice Management and Development
The Investment Center, Inc.
It is clear if we do not address the critical issue of attracting female students to a career in financial services, women will continue to be unrepresented in our industry.
A recent NYU study suggests the degree of perceived gender discrimination in a field, was the best prediction as to whether a woman chooses a college major.* The study, which included ‘money oriented’ majors, proposes examining the messages sent out by those within the field to ensure they do not suggest gender is a factor in a person’s ability to succeed.
This suggests if we want more women to consider financial services as a career choice, action needs to be taken during the formative stages of the career-decision process. By engaging with educators and students in colleges and high-schools, we can ensure positive industry messages are filtering down to young women considering their future careers.
If you want to be part of the growing movement to attract young women into the industry, ask your broker-dealer about creating a program, or look for initiatives like the CFP’s Women’s Initiative (WIN) Council. Also, check out nonprofit organizations like Girls Who Invest (www.girlswhoinvest.org). Ask your local community college if you can speak about the industry to their students or offer internships. It can be intimidating for a young woman to go into an industry where they don’t see other women leaders to whom they can aspire, so it is vitally important they see local women practitioners as role models.
Actions like these will help change the perceived bias of our industry, which in turn should lead to greater numbers of young women entering the field.
* New York University. “Perceived gender bias against women is dominant factor in college major choice.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 23 January 2018.
For over 30 years The Investment Center has had one focus — has had one focus — the success of every advisor who partners with us. By joining The Investment Center an advisor has full access to a diverse team of highly accomplished experts in the fields of product selection, marketing, technology, and practice management. The Investment Center created a Women’s Advisor Group to focus specifically on the needs of our female advisors.
For more information on the group, call Nicola Sutton at 888-868-4808 or visit https://www.investmentctr.com/wag.