Women and the Stock Market: The Wide Gap Persists
As Le Slip Français’s initial public offering on July 14 brings the stock markets back into the public spotlight, a study published by Lise—the new French stock exchange dedicated to small and medium-sized enterprises—reveals the extent of the gender gap when it comes to stock market investing. Fewer women invest, they are less confident, and they are less familiar with financial products: women remain largely on the sidelines of the markets.
Initial public offerings are back in the headlines: following SpaceX across the Atlantic, Le Slip Français is set to join Euronext Growth on July 14, with a successful subscription already announced. But behind the media hype, a segment of the population remains left behind. This is documented in a study by Lise (Lightning Stock Exchange), conducted by the Discurv institute among 1,000 people representative of the French population.
An 18-point gap in investment
The key finding of the study is striking: only 23% of women have ever invested in the stock market, compared with 41% of men. This 18-point gap cannot be explained by savings levels or interest in financial matters, but rather by a different relationship with the financial markets.
Because the main obstacle is not financial; it is psychological: 64% of women say they do not feel capable of taking the plunge, compared with 48% of men. The feeling of not being entitled to do so precedes the act of investing and prevents it from happening.
Financial literacy: the key to success
This lack of confidence stems from a self-reported lack of knowledge. Nearly a quarter of the women surveyed (24%) say they have no understanding of financial concepts, compared with 16% of men. When it comes to the products themselves, the gap widens even further: only 6% of women feel they understand ETFs well enough to invest in them, compared with 15% of men.
These figures reflect the general lack of financial literacy among the French, which studies regularly highlight. But they show that this lack of financial literacy is not evenly distributed: it primarily affects women, with very real long-term financial consequences. Over the course of several decades, staying out of the stock market—which has historically yielded higher returns than regulated savings accounts—means accepting a wealth gap that compounds existing wage and pension disparities.
A Challenge for Paris as a Financial Center
For Lise, the new French stock exchange dedicated to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and mid-cap companies founded by Mark Kepeneghian, the challenge goes beyond a simple sociological observation. The financing of French companies by individual investors—a stated goal of both public authorities and market participants—cannot afford to exclude half the population.
The question raised by the study is therefore less about the diagnosis—which is now well established—than about the solutions: How can we better support women in gaining access to financial literacy and stock market investing? Financial education in schools, less gendered communication from financial institutions, and simple, easy-to-understand entry-level products: the approaches are well known. All that remains is to put them into action.
In the meantime, the paradox remains: even though investing in the stock market has never been easier from a technical standpoint—it takes just a few clicks to buy an ETF—the barrier to entry remains primarily a mental one. And it won’t disappear on its own.
