During this time of economic uncertainty in the United States, social and economic conservatism is on the rise — you only have to look at your For You Page to see that. The #tradwife trend has more than 53,000 posts on TikTok. Instagram is full of traditionally gendered content, from “Day In The Life Of A Stay-At-Home Girlfriend” Reels to memes about being “just a girl.” And girl math continues to reign supreme among Gen Z. For many young women who are balancing rigorous academic workloads and job searching with a recession looming, the prospect of having a schedule free from 9-to-5s and the demands of figuring out their own financial futures may sound a bit tempting, or, to some, the end goal. (No judgement, it’s rough out here!) But at the other end of the spectrum, you’ll see a different group of college women: the finance babes — aka, the women finance majors who are fighting against the cultural current and putting in the work toward their careers and their bank accounts, despite the obstacles standing in their way.
You’ve likely heard of finance bros — the stereotypical male finance majors who wear Patagonia quarter-zips to class, buy cryptocurrency and stocks on the Robinhood app, and unapologetically defend Jordan Belfort from their favorite movie, The Wolf of Wall Street. But they’re not the only ones in the finance classroom; a smaller (but growing) number of finance majors in college are women, and while they might not have the immediately recognizable stereotypes attached to them like their male counterparts do, finance babes are making their mark across college campuses and beyond.
“Understanding how money works, how to invest, save, and build wealth gives me a sense of control and confidence,” Abby Woods, 20, a junior studying finance at Kansas State University, tells Her Campus. “It’s motivating to know that I can use that knowledge not just for myself, but also to help others — especially other women — gain financial independence and navigate these spaces with strength.”
But while many finance babes find studying finance in 2025 empowering, the gender disparity is impossible to ignore. In North America, only 33% of finance undergraduates are women, and their female instructors face the same inequality, with top business schools employing one female professor for every three male instructors, according to a 2024 report from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. Woods recalls feeling a mix of pride and pressure when she first noticed the gender imbalance in one of her finance classes. On one hand, she says, it’s empowering being in a field where women are traditionally underrepresented. On the other, she had to speak louder to avoid being talked over.
“The presence of misogyny in finance — or even just being underestimated because I’m a woman — can be discouraging,” she says. “It’s frustrating to see the ways bias still shows up, whether it’s in the lack of representation or subtle assumptions people make,” she says referring to misogynistic stereotypes of women in the workplace, including incompetence, emotionality, and prioritizing family over career.
When Brooke Mizuno, 21, a junior studying finance and global business at the University of Portland, walked into her managerial finance class and saw five women amid her 30 other male classmates, she instantly felt the overwhelming bro vibes. Not only did the men outnumber the women six to one, but the finance bros all seemed to know each other, giving them unspoken permission to speak confidently (and loudly) and putting them at ease in what could otherwise feel like an intimidating setting. “When I’m in the classroom and really seeing that disparity, I feel almost out of my element,” she says. “It feels isolating at times. If you don’t have your friend who’s also a girl taking finance with you, then it’s like you don’t have anyone. Guys have those relationships from class where we don’t.”
It’s frustrating to see the ways bias still shows up, whether it’s in the lack of representation or subtle assumptions people make.
In some ways, the gender disparity in the classroom helps prepare these college women for the working world. Only 16% of the world’s largest financial institutions are led by women, according to a report by the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum. But female representation in the finance sector is increasing, if slowly. According to a 2023 report from Deloitte, more women have been employed in chief-level positions in the financial services industry than men since 2013, and women now account for 18% of C-suite positions globally (of course, this doesn’t even come close to reflecting the 49.7% of the global population that’s female, but baby steps are still steps in the right direction).
“Men used to have all of the wealth until relatively recently,” money mindset coach and author of Breaking Money Silence, Kathleen Burns Kingsbury, says. When Kingsbury was earning her bachelor’s degree in finance in 1986, most of the financial leadership positions were filled by men. Over time, though, she’s watched the industry evolve. “Now, women have a lot of economic power. There are more businesses, we are in more C-suites, even though it’s still uneven,” she says.
Kingsbury notes the vast opportunities there are for young women pursuing careers in finance these days. “What the financial industry has not done is adequately adjust to the fact that not all clients are white men,” she says. “Some clients are women, and diverse, and it feels the industry has been very slow to get that message. The flip side of that is there’s a lot of opportunity for women in the field because the industry is recruiting more women.”
Similarly, Bola Sokunbi, author and founder and CEO of Clever Girl Finance, emphasizes how the need for young women in finance can be a strong motivator for those studying the field in college. “There are many, many women who are seeking financial support, financial education, financial guidance, and financial planning help that you can support,” she says, speaking directly to these women. “We make up over half of the population. There’s room for you.”
Han Vu-Tran, 21, a junior at the University of Minnesota who is excited by the “super competitive” finance space, has a slightly more cynical vantage point, but ultimately lands on a similar conclusion as Sokunbi’s. “The world of finance is rather conservative and resistant to change socially,” she says. “That doesn’t mean that it’s undynamic when it comes to the work.”
Vu-Tran’s no-nonsense approach to her finance studies may be indicative of how many young women with this major are feeling in 2025. It’s been nearly two months since President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day,” when the administration announced a universal 10% tariff on all imported goods, and while there have been plenty of changes since that day, the U.S. economy certainly isn’t gaining much confidence among many college students these days. Rather than waiting for the finance world to catch up with them, Vu-Tran and other finance babes are taking matters into their own hands. “The economy is going to get worse before it gets better, but that means it’s so much more important now to have financial literacy than ever, because that’s something we’re going to use a lot in the next few years,” Vu-Tran says.
If being a tradwife is what makes [some women] feel fulfilled in life, then all power to them. However, that isn’t the reality for all women.
As far as the finance world goes, women have made huge strides in a small amount of time. It wasn’t until 1974 (only 50 years ago!), when the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) was enacted, that women were legally protected from discrimination in banking. It wasn’t until 1974 that women were able to open accounts and obtain loans in their own names without the permission of their husbands. It wasn’t until 1974 that women could have complete financial autonomy. As the tradwife movement seeps its way into young women’s social media algorithms, the finance babes are offering another way to respond to today’s economic uncertainty and gender discourse, one that prioritizes financial literacy and workplace empowerment.
“I do acknowledge that everyone has a right to partake in the lifestyle they choose, and if being a tradwife is what makes [some women] feel fulfilled in life, then all power to them,” Vu-Tran says. “However, that isn’t the reality for all women, and it’s important for women to understand that they have options outside of whatever is trending right now in society. The world has come a long way, and at the heart of many movements is simply the right to choose how to live your own life.”