Kvinnor och mäns finansiella risktaganden : En kvalitativ studie om hur kvinnor och män upplever sitt finansiella risktagande

Sammanfattning

Modern society has created more opportunities and risks, an example of which is the stock market. The stock market entails financial risk-taking when it comes to investments and it is a domain that has always been dominated by men. Despite the high presence of women in the labor market, there is an absence in the stock market. The reasons for women's absence can be several, where one reason may be that men are considered to thrive better in risky contexts than women.The purpose of this study is to gain an understanding of how gender roles affect risk-taking, specifically with regard to investments in the stock market. This will be done through our questions at issue that include how men and women experience their financial actions and their risk-taking in investments and also if the experiences differ depending on gender roles. Previous research on the subject has shown results where gender roles have a decisive influence on how men and women act and relate to financial risk-taking. The study's theoretical framework is based on Anthony Gidden's risk theory, Ulrich Beck's conception of the risk society and Simone de Beauvoir's depiction of gender roles. The study was conducted through semi-structured qualitative interviews, to get more enriching information with room left for details. The conclusion of the study is that gender roles were irrelevant when it came to the respondents' actions in the stock market, except in terms of knowledge. The knowledge and risk assessment was clearly characterized by gender roles, as we found patterns where women had a higher level of knowledge than men, and where men have a more positive attitude to risk-taking than women.