22-year-old Emma Bitz, student at Copenhagen Business School, wants to close the investment gender gap. Together with a group of other female students, she has founded the student association Female Invest.
Photo: Female Invest
Emma, where does your interest in investments come from? Well, I guess I’ve always had an interest for economics, but I think it all started after high school where I worked in private banking and markets at Nordea. I didn’t grow up in a home where investing your money was an option, but my parents have always been careful about
their economy and I think this reflects my interest and attitude towards investing. Why did you decide on establishing Female Invest? I remember when I was in high school and I tried to talk to the boys about economics and investments. Somehow, although unintentionally I’m sure, the conversation either ended or the subject changed whenever I entered the conversation. I cannot pinpoint exactly what happened, but I quickly sensed a gap between the boys and me. When I pursued my studies in International Business & Politics at CBS, I met AnnaSophie Hartvigsen, who wasn’t afraid of telling about her investment, and it was cool. Finally, I met like-minded females with an interest for investment, but there wasn’t really a place or venue where I felt comfortable – where you can ask all the “silly” questions. Girls tend to overthink before asking a question in plenum. The feeling of being judged and misconceived are underlying factors when in company of confident males. So, we felt a need to create a forum where girls and women can explore the world of investments, where we can close the existing gender gap and where it was “safe” for us and other women to ask the wrong and silly questions without the feeling of being judged, and this is why I founded Female Invest.
What does the setup look like for Female Invest? We are hosting different talks and events in collaboration with companies, Finansforbundet, Dansk Aktionærforening (Danish Shareholder’s Association). To us, it is really important for fan out and cover as much of Denmark as possible. Our target group consists of young women in their early twenties to women who are about to retire and who wants to know about retirement savings and how to make the most of it. So, we’re trying to shed light on the world of investing by inviting the attendees to different location and show them that it isn’t that scary at all. Why do you think that women find this world so scary? I think that more boys than girls are interested in finances from an early age. Boys are more playful and less concerned about consequences, so more or less automatically, girls are falling behind early on. This creates a gap between men and women later on in life, a gap that is difficult to close unless we do something about it actively. Finance and investment need not to be a male ‘thing’ and instead become normative for all genders.
Besides Female Invest, what initiatives could be done to prevent girls and women falling behind on this issue? I would like to see a larger focus on finance and investment in high school curriculum or at least offer these subjects as electives. In my opinion, there are way too many outdated subjects in school that could easily be substituted by modern and relevant subjects such as finance and investment as well as Tax and Momsregnskab (VAT accounting, red.). How do you experience being a woman in finance? There are pros and cons to being a minority, but I find it very inspiring and fun to be around so many bright minds. It makes me want to work harder. In this field, which I agree is male-dominated at the moment, you need to kick in the door if you want to be heard and seen – you cannot expect to be invited to all the cool events and work your way up the ladder, if you don’t put your heart and soul into it.
Thanks for sharing, Emma!