Why Do We Care?
In interview after interview with experienced financial professionals, we hear a common refrain on how to get more girls interested in finance as a profession. “If girls would just try it,” goes the thinking, “they might realize that they really like it. Even better still, they might realize that they are good at it.” Here is an excerpt from our interview with Anu Aiyengar, J.P. Morgan’s Head Of Mergers and Acquisitions in North America:
“I would encourage young girls to get exposure [to finance]. Keep your mind open, give it a shot! If you try it, you may realize that you really enjoy it and you are good at it! You’ll realize, too, that’s what you’ll want to do. You want to have an impact, and you want to have fun doing it.”
So we’ve gone ahead and found three TOTALLY FREE stock investment games that anyone from beginner to expert can use to practice their stock investment skills. We’re encouraging any girls reading this to check out the sites recommended below and have a go. We’re encouraging mothers, fathers, teachers, family friends or anyone else to show these sites to the girls in their lives who might be interested. The sites below are equal parts entertaining and informative, and definitely worth checking out.
Wall Street Survivor
The game itself is great for beginners and experienced investors alike. After going through the courses and learning about the stock market, you can test the skills you’ve learned by investing $100,000 (not real money) in their hyper-realistic stock simulator. You’ll have access to all sorts of useful data on real companies to help you make your decisions. To make things fun, you can join leagues to compete against friends or strangers, and can even compete for real prizes in certain public leagues.
HowTheMarketWorks
HowTheMarketWorks offers a large amount of material that makes it ideal for anyone from beginner to expert as well. Players start with $100,000 to use in real market conditions. HowTheMarketWorks was used in over 10,000 classrooms last year, from middle school through college.
Market Watch
Market Watch’s Virtual Stock Exchange is a less beginner friendly option for those looking for a good stock market game. The game itself does a nice job of simulating the market. Market Watch allows players to trade stocks in real time using their virtual portfolio, and emphasizes users’ ability to discuss strategy with other members of their group in game. Further, the game offers customization, similar to the other two, and includes a fair amount of in depth trading options.
Changing Investing and the Industry From a Male Perspective to a Female Perspective
As an organization, our mission is to increase both the amount of women entering finance as a profession and the amount of financially literate women, even if they choose not to pursue finance as a career. While there are certainly institutional barriers to women joining the profession, we know for a fact that one of the biggest causes of the lack of women in the field comes from girls self selecting themselves out. This can come from social norms that suggest a lack of confidence in STEM subjects, a lack of friends going into those profession, or simply a lack of interest in the field.
We know that the latter happens to be a larger factor than many realize. Girls often have an increased desire to work in fields that give back, hence why fields such as education, social work, and nonprofits tend to have comparatively more women than most professions. But what if we changed the narrative on finance while simultaneously increasing the pipeline of women interested in finance? Easier said than done, right?
Maybe not. What if we encouraged our girls to give finance a shot using programs like these stock simulators? What if we explained to them that you can carefully choose which types of companies they can invest in- such as companies that are socially responsible? What if we explained to them that changing WHERE we invest our money can change the world for the better? Let’s stop asking hypotheticals and start showing our girls HOW to change the world THROUGH FINANCE.
