Women constitute half of the world’s population. The participation of women in the economy is important in order to enhance and contribute towards raising the economic potential of a country. Long-standing inequalities have prevented women from participating in and benefiting from stock markets. They face discriminatory practices which prevent them from seeking entry into certain occupations, especially male-dominated ones. In the present study, the diverse literature available worldwide on the stock market participation of women has been explored and analyzed in terms of their objectives, research methodology, sample, respondents and the impediments faced by women while investing in the stock market. The article demonstrates that there are several impediments that prevent women from investing in the stock market and suggests that besides financial literacy programmes, changes in attitude and behaviour of the society as well as women are needed in order to improve their participation in the stock market.
AlmenbergJ.DreberA. (2012). Gender, stock market participation and financial literacy. SSE/EFI Working Paper Series in Economics and Finance, 2012. Retrieved September20, 2012, from http://ssrn.com/abstract=1880909
2.
BarberBrad M.OdeanT. (1999). Boys will be boys: Gender, overconfidence, and common stock investment. New York Stock Exchange Fact Book, Retrieved from papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Delivery.cfm?abstractid=139415 on July18, 2012, pp. 1–39.
3.
BernasekA.BajtelsmitVickie L. (2002). Predictors of women’s involvement in household financial decision-making. The Journal of the Association for Financial Counseling and Planning and Education, 13(1), 39–48.
4.
BernasekiA.BajtelsmitVickie L. (1996). Why Do Women Invest Differently Than Men?The Journal of the Association for Financial Counseling and Planning Education, 7, 1–10.
5.
BleaseBeckerJohnR.SohlJeffrey E. (2008). Confidence and angel investors: Does gender matter?Washington State University Publication. Retrieved January21, 2012, from http://ssrn.com/abstract=1345983
6.
ChristiansenC.JoensenJuanna S.RangvidJ. (2009). Fiction or fact: Systematic gender differences in financial investments? Retrieved November21, 2011, from http://ssrn.com/abstract=948164
7.
ColganC.GoodmanJ. (2004). Saving and investing: A challenge for women. Retrieved December11, 2011, from http://www.ncpa.org/pdfs/bg161.pdf
8.
DesiganC.KalaiselviS.AnusuyaL. (2006). Women investors’ perception towards investment—An empirical study. Indian Journal of Marketing, 36(4), 14–18.
9.
DonohueMelissa A. (2011). Financial Literacy and Women: Overcoming the Barriers. Open Access Dissertations, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Paper 395, pp. 1–131.
10.
DwyerPeggy D.GilkesonbJames H.ListcJohn A. (2002). Gender differences in revealed risk taking: Evidence from mutual fund investors. Economics Letters, 76, 151–158.
11.
EmbreyLori L.FoxJ. (1997). Gender differences in the investment decision—Making process. Financial Counseling and Planning Journal, 8(2), 33–39.
12.
FengL.SeaholesMark S. (2007). Individual investors and gender similarities in an emerging stock market. Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, 16, 44–60.
13.
Financial Literacy Foundation Advisory Board. (2008). Financial literacy: Women understanding money. Commonwealth of Australia Retrieved from http://www.financialliteracy.gov.au/media/209296/women-understanding-money.pdf on July18, 2012.
14.
FusilierM.MuellerLeslie C. (2004). Client Age, gender, education and perceptions of investment broker practices. Academy of Accounting and Financial Studies Journal, 8(2), 93–108.
15.
HemingwayJoan M. (2009). Female investors and securities fraud: Is the reasonable investor a woman?William and Mary Journal, 15(2), 1291–1336.
16.
HiraT.LoiblC. (2012). Gender Differences in Investment Behavior. Presented to the NASD Investor Education Foundation, 2006. Retrieved from http://www.finrafoundation.org/web/groups/foundation/@foundation/documents/foundation/p118417.pdf on September22, 2012.
17.
JacobsenB.LeeJohn B.MarqueringW.ZhangC. (2010). Are women more risk averse or men more optimistic? Retrieved November18, 2012, from http://blogs-images.forbes.com/sashagalbraith/files/2011/04/Jacobsen_Paper-optimism-and-gender.pdf
18.
KathirvelN.MekalaA. (2010). Women investor’s perception towards online trading in Tamil Nadu with special reference to Coimbatore district. Tecnia: Journal of Management Studies, 5, 76–88.
19.
LoiblC.LeeJ.FoxJ.GaetaErin M. (2007). Women’s high-consequence decision making: A nonstatic and complex choice process. Journal of Financial Counseling and Planning, 18(2), 37–45.
20.
LusardiA.MitchellOlivia S.CurtoV. (2009). Financial Literacy among the Young: Evidence and Implications for Consumer Policy, Pension Research Council, Working Paper WP 2009–09, 2009. Retrieved on August20, 2012 at http://ssrn.com/abstract=1459141.
21.
MishraB. (2007). Investment decision making process by employed women. New Delhi: Mahamaya Publishing House.
22.
NathL.WebbHolder L.WoodD. (2009). Will women lead the way? Gender and information preferences in investment decisions. Retrieved January20, 2012, from http://ssrn.com/abstract=1341897
23.
OzmeteE.HiraT. (2011). Conceptual analysis of behavioral theories/models: Application to financial behavior. European Journal of Social Sciences, 18(3), 386–404.
24.
Wire Women’s Information. (2007). Women’s financial literacy research report. Conducted by Helen Macpherson-Smith Trust. Retrieved January22, 2012, from http://www.wire.org.au
