Rocking it for the girls
We start to lose girls in math at age 9 in the U.S. As they age, girls report significantly lower confidence in math, despite earning equal scores to boys.
Girls’ engagement with STEM wanes even further in high school, just as they are beginning to consider their college majors/minors and future careers.
In the financial sector, women only make up 9% of mutual fund managers, 8% of venture capital partners, 2.5% of hedge fund managers, 12% of Sr. private equity professionals.
A lot of us are talking about it. Rock The Street Wall Street is doing something about it. And so am I.
Rock The Street, Wall Street (RTSWS) is a program that teaches financial and investment literacy to high school girls. Maybe inspiring a passion for numbers. Perhaps sparking a career in finance. Definitely arming them with critical knowledge. They have served more than 3,000 girls across 17 cities. 69% of the students are from minority populations and 44% from low-income households.
On average, their alumnae demonstrate a 95% increase in financial and investment literacy. They are five times more likely to pursue careers in finance, economics, or related fields than the national average of female college students.
Upon learning about RTSWS and the impact it has, my firm, Havener Capital, committed to a partnership. We will be volunteering at Rogers High School here in Newport, Rhode Island for the 2021/2022 school year, providing project-based classroom instruction, a field trip, and mentorship.
RTSWS’ goal is to create a society where women are financially literate, independent and equally represented in the field of finance, all the way up to the C-suites.
“If we change who invests, we will change what we invest in.”
It is very tough for me to write those words without tearing up. Be the hero you needed when you were younger. We aren’t just talking about it anymore. We are being about it.
