The Story of Stacey Cunningham addressing misconceptions in Stock Exchange Market

Stacey Cunningham, the new president, observed that the position holds a lot of historical meaning to her as an individual as it reflects a milestone for the exchange. Notably, as quoted by the Independent, she also observed, "As a woman, I think it's important to set new boundaries for everyone so that those who follow can continue to have more opportunity than existed before” (www. independent. co. uk). scoopnest. com All is not well: Ms. Cunningham’s success story notwithstanding While accolades for her achievements are indeed well deserved, it still begs the question why it has taken such a long time for a woman to ascend to New York’s Stock Exchange topmost echelons almost a century since the advent of women empowerment initiatives? Women are becoming pilots, becoming doctors, flying to the space station, and winning prestigious global prizes including the Nobel Prize.

Why did it take this long for women to attain this milestone at the stock exchange market? Indeed, the fact that it took over two centuries to get a woman president in the New York Stock Market points to the status of the industry with regard to women participation. The question of women underrepresentation in the stock exchange market, both as traders and managers of companies, has baffled many people. women are often hesitant to invest in stock market shares due to limited literacy in financial matters and lower risk tolerance (3). Moreover, he report by Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative, 2018, observes that women CEOs only account for 32 positions in the Fortune 500 list (www. sseinitiative. org). While the stock exchange market has the potential of giving women better returns, a lot of women still prefer saving their money in banks.

This confirms that it is a misconception by women to consider the stock exchange market risky for them. Prast et al, however, prefers associating women’s laxity to trade in stocks with lack of familiarity with the companies whose shares are in the market (3). Either way, the misconception and resultant hesitancy hurt women’s income opportunities in the stock market. Unsupportive Working Environment Is the industry inhibitive towards entry of women? Substantial evidence is also pointing to the existence of stereotypical misconceptions amongst players in the industry that do not make the environment any favorable for women’s career growth. Gregory et al. com). Essentially the perception in the industry that women leadership is not healthy for an organization leads to long-term discrimination of the women at the workplace, such that underrepresentation at the top leadership persists.

Stacey Cunningham represents better days ahead It is, however, not all gloom for women who want to trade or take up various positions in the stock exchange market. The story of Stacey Cunningham is a testament that women are not any less competent to trade or rise to leadership roles in the trading companies. In fact, I believe the stock market is presently more ready and better accommodating of women’s participation than it has ever been before. independent. co. uk/news/business/nyse-stacey-cunningham-new-york-stock-exchange-president-first-woman-a8364451. html. Accessed 13 July 2018. org/home-slider/global-markets-support-gender-equality-65-stock-exchanges-ring-their-bells-to-raise-awareness-on-gender-equality/. Accessed 18 July 2018. Gilbert, Katie. Is The Stock Market Sexist?". Pacific Standard, 2018, https://psmag. com/login. aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=120476280&site=ehost-live. Gregory, Alan, et al. Does the Stock Market Gender Stereotype Corporate Boards? Evidence from the Market's Reaction to Directors' Trades.

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