Women have been running a marathon for centuries in the assertion of their rights, and although the discourse on gender equality is increasingly relevant, real equality has not yet been achieved. as can be seen in the Sustainable Development Goals Agenda.
Modern societies were built without the participation of women, who were excluded from the public sphere, meaning, the decision-making sphere. This situation led to a legacy of inequality that became ingrained in the population and disguised itself as normality. It is precisely this fact, present even in the smallest actions of our daily lives, that we must identify and question in order to subsequently be able to change it.
In this global process of change we are immersed in, this new way of rethinking ourselves comes into play, which must reach the entire social structure. A clear example is the financial sector, a world in which women face a glass ceiling that is difficult to break, but in which they have gradually achieved greater presence, representation, and power. So much so that, according to an article in the Elmundo.es newspaper, 27% of investment fund managers in Spain are women.
The aggregate of these social changes has introduced two new factors to the financial world that have added more value. On the one hand, as we have already pointed out, the presence of women as investment fund managers, and on the other, the birth and growth of impact investments, although we are not claiming that one is a consequence of the other.
Impact investing seeks not only profitability but also social or environmental benefit, and it turns out that, according to the data, 84% of women prefer to invest with a purpose. This demonstrates that real change is occurring and that women have many new things to contribute to the financial sector.
It is important to remember that, for years, girls and boys have been educated differently. While “care” was placed at the centre of girls' lives, a greater development of individuality and personal growth was encouraged in boys. In practice, this has translated into a high feminisation of the social sphere, meaning that the majority of professions related to the world of care are occupied by women.
This situation has been compounded by the lack of social recognition for care work, both in relational and economic terms. We've forgotten that the unpaid work women have historically done in the private sphere has been essential for the maintenance of the capitalist system.
This panorama demonstrates that the next step to take is to recognise the value that women and their experiences have to offer for the redefinition of a financial world that is increasingly fair, in which social aspects are placed as an essential part of the economy.
However, we must not forget that real change will only occur when there is genuine co-responsibility, where care becomes the heritage and priority of all people. Only then can we create a new way of understanding society in general and the economy in particular, based on the recognition, reflection, involvement, and action of all social agents. Let's continue to move forward with purpose.
