The Reality of Starting off as a Female in Finance

By Jody Bell

The first time I experienced sexism in the finance industry I hadn’t even taken a finance class. 

I was interested in exploring the field during the summer after my freshmen year - so I applied for an internship with a local asset manager. I knew I didn’t have much tangible experience in the field, but I had strong analytical and data processing skills and highlighted these skills during the interview.

When I started the internship there were two other interns – both male. Despite the fact that we both had the same limited finance experience, they had the opportunity to work on client portfolios, while I was doing administrative tasks (primarily answering client emails.) After weeks of building up courage, I asked my manager about this, and was told that “I have more developed people-person skills.”

He uttered these words with a smile on his face - expecting me to be grateful for his statement despite that he just packaged his bias in a compliment. You see, I was shy, and wasn’t even given a chance to show my quantitive skills. There was truly no basis for his comment.

This is the reality that many women in finance, and other male-dominated analytical fields, face. The stereotype of women having more developed people-person skills is often packaged as a compliment that pushes them away from the technical aspects of certain industries. 

As a rising sophomore, I had no idea how to confront that issue - so I didn’t. I kept working on administrative tasks and remained unplugged from the actual finance portion of my internship. The frustration built up, so going into sophomore year I devised a plan. I was going to become so well-versed in the technical aspects of finance that no one could ever use my gender to doubt my abilities. 

So I did; I got the highest grades in my class and began offering tutoring services. I was determined to develop strong enough skills to avoid ever having a job dictated by a stereotype. 

As I went into the summer after my sophomore year, I found myself looking for internships once again. There was an emerging field of finance and technology that’s referred to as FinTech and I finally found an internship position in this new industry. 

I excitedly picked up the Zoom call from the recruiter at what I had hoped would be my dream internship. I went into the conversation bubbly - nervously laughing and with a grin anxiously plastered across my whole face. We speak for a few minutes before he asks “so how much can you actually code?” The doubt dripping from the word “actually” immediately turned the excitement I felt into rocks in my stomach. I stuttered out “I-I-can code” at which point he laughed. As I sat there, feeling smaller than ever, and tried to gather my thoughts.

“I can code quite well and got top grades in each of my finance classes this summer.” I squeezed out. Needless to say, I didn't get that internship 

After spending a year trying to get so quantitatively knowledgeable that I couldn’t be discriminated against, I was then laughed at. The frustration that I felt in my last internship was still on my mind and now it was rapidly turning to anger. I was angry at these individuals who make assumptions about my skills. I was angry with an industry that was outdated and sexist. And somehow I was angry with myself for being in this position. 

I went through an amazing transformation through high school and Girls With Impact - growing from an incredibly shy girl in the back of the classroom to a public speaker and advocate for my venture. Yet, the discrimination I was facing felt it eradicated all the confidence I had carefully accumulated. 

I spent that summer angry and debating switching careers. Eventually, my junior year started and these feelings faded but did not disappear. I decided to join my college's investment group, which allows a cohort of students to manage a large pool of assets. I knew that this academic environment was perfect to begin to craft my confidence and build myself up. 

So that’s exactly what I did. I refined my technical skills in a supportive and collaborative environment, with a professor that was truly invested in my success both personally and professionally. I began to build back my confidence, and while I experienced more microaggressions along the path, I had a group of peers to support me and counteract some of the feelings of discouragement.  

This entire journey truly taught me the day-to-day reality of working in a male-dominated field. As women in STEM or business fields, we know that the odds are stacked against us. Oddly this presents as a motivational challenge that pushes us toward success. But once the small cuts of microaggression accumulate you can feel your confidence begin to waiver. With that comes frustration and anger, and channeling these feelings towards bettering yourself and your abilities is amazing, however, it won’t fix the problem of sexism. You may be the absolute best person in your field, and there’s a chance you will still experience discrimination. 

After having enough of these experiences I stopped taking them so personally. I accepted that this is the brutal reality of being in a male-dominated field, and outside of the romanticized “girl-boss” memes it can be really tough. 

I hope that this doesn’t discourage any young woman from pursuing finance or a similarly male-dominated field. If this is where your passion lies you should pursue it. That being said, I wished that someone had given me an honest take on what it was like to be continuously developing while also a young woman in one of these fields. At the end of the day, you must accept that this is what the reality of the industry looks like - so buckle down on your confidence and do what you can to pave the way for the women that follow you. 

Jody Bell, 21 is Girls With Impact’s Editor in Chief and a program graduate from Greenwich High School. Girls With Impact is the nation’s only online, business and leadership program for girls 14-24, turning them into tomorrow’s leaders, entrepreneurs, and innovators.