Georgia Rose
Athena Cocoves
Looking for trustworthy financial advice on the internet can feel like folding a fitted sheet in a hurricane — exhausting, discouraging, and seemingly not worth the effort. The bad news is that gender biases in online spaces — conscious or subconscious — might be leading you deeper into the storm.
Understanding what gender bias is — and how it’s woven into financial literacy — can help you navigate the terrain more freely and make stronger financial decisions.
Historical origins
Gender bias is a stereotypical belief based on gender. Whether subtle or overt, it shapes how financial advice is delivered and received.
Historically, most financial texts were written by white men, for white men, leaving much of the population — women, non-binary individuals and BIPOC communities — to navigate a racially biased, male-centered financial environment alone.
The effect of these biases is far reaching — ranging from mistrust and self-doubt to outright exclusion. Not only can this stifle personal financial growth, but it has serious economic implications — like costing the wealth management industry $25 billion annually by underserving women’s financial needs.
Real-world costs of gender biases
Here are ways gender biases show up in personal finance and translate into real-world costs.
Mistrust of women silences voices and erodes confidence
If women are made to feel inadequate in financial spaces, they’re less likely to ask for the help they need.
“They’re scared to talk about it because they’re afraid of looking stupid,” says Joylee Yang, CEO of Joyee Yang Finance Inc and financial influencer based in Toronto. When women ask her questions like ‘what is a TFSA or Roth IRA’, she sees them as brave, noting a difference in how men and women are treated online.
“When men ask ‘what is a TFSA or Roth IRA?’, they might get more of a serious response from people because they’re a guy,” she says.
Compounding the issue is the bias that female advisors are not as trustworthy as their male counterparts. For example, despite similar content from male and female financial influencers, “female-authored perspectives receive significantly lower engagement, lower trust, and higher disagreement from platform users,” according to a 2023 paper, Gender Bias and Crowd-Sourced Financial Information.
Unfounded mistrust and lower engagement can restrict an influencer’s reach and reduce the volume of female voices online. This disproportionately hurts women, as studies show they respond more positively to female-driven advice, feeling 2.5 times more comfortable taking investment risks and more confident in their financial knowledge.
When Yang left home at 19, the only woman influencer she found online was U.S.-based and unable to speak to the Canada-specific products she was researching. The lack of local, female-identifying advisors hurts not only the individual seeking relatable advice, but the community as a whole.
The Business Data Lab’s analysis of the 2023 OECD report, The Missing Entrepreneurs, estimates that 710,000 women entrepreneurs were missing from Canada’s economy due to gender-based barriers over the last eight years — whose presence could have grown the GDP by 6%.
Pressure on men drives riskier financial decisions
There is often pressure surrounding men and wealth, Yang says. Society makes men believe they are only valuable if they make X amount of money.
People who feel overly pressured to know ‘everything’ about money and feel unsafe expressing their inexperience may not seek the best advice.
Instead of focusing on long-term strategies, they might chase high-risk investments in search of “that hit of success,” Yang says.
And short-term wins don’t always translate to long-term gains: American women outperformed men in their investments over a 10-year period, according to a the Fidelity Investments 2021 Women and Investing Study. Also, Canadian men trade more frequently than women, according to the Fair Canada Investor Survey from The Strategic Counsel, which could result in a bigger hit to their returns due to trading costs.
Binary financial systems exclude entire communities
If the financial system is primarily geared toward a straight white male mindset, then non-binary, LGBTQ2s+, and BIPOC communities lose out.
LGBTQ2s+ entrepreneurs in Canada feel banks are less likely to issue loans to people like them, according to a 2022 study by the Women’s Enterprise Organization of Canada (WEOC). The study also finds racialized and Indigenous respondents are three times more likely to feel banks would be biased toward them than their non-intersectional counterparts.
With LGBTQ2s+ entrepreneurs generating over $22 billion for the economy, and Indigenous-led businesses adding $33 billion to the GDP, a lack of inclusive spaces inhibits growth in these communities and weakens the economy.
3 ways to break the bias cycle
Who you intentionally listen to, who you tune out and who you never hear from can shape your financial future. Here are three actionable ways to mitigate bias and build inclusivity online and within your community:
1. Celebrate differences
Everyone absorbs financial information differently, and cultivating online spaces that speak to various perspectives and learning techniques benefits everyone.
For example, a 2024 study titled The Gendered Language of Financial Advice: Finfluencers, Framing, and Subconscious Preferences shows that male-oriented social media posts tend to focus on graphs, numbers, sharing “secrets” and tracking market trends, while female-oriented posts focus on personal narratives, empathic advice and financial basics.
When asked to rate the posts on trustworthiness and relatability, women favoured the female-oriented posts, and men the male-oriented posts, suggesting a subconscious preference.
These preferences aren’t inherently problematic. Some people connect more with numbers and charts, others with storytelling. If your feed is filled with the same kinds of people, giving the same advice, in the same way, it might be time to step back and think about why.
Ask yourself: Am I receiving guidance that fits my learning style — or am I under the thumb of a narrow algorithm? Try following one new creator outside your usual sphere this week, and reflect on how their approach resonates with you.
2. Grow confidence through community
Facilitating safe spaces where women can discuss personal stories and define financial concepts in their own words “can significantly enhance their financial confidence and promote positive financial behaviours,” according to a recent report from the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, From Clicks to Confidence.
Promoting content from different voices can help reduce barriers for future generations. “There are hundreds of thousands of 19-year-old Joylees out there who have no formal education in finance, who are scared as hell about the stock market and whose families can’t help them,” Yang says. “When I make every single video, I make it so that the 19-year-old Joylee would understand.”
Ask yourself: When’s the last time I shared my own financial question or story, or listened to someone else share theirs? Try joining an online forum or starting a conversation with friends and family.
3. Raise awareness by clocking biases
Simply knowing that these biases exist — and actively clocking them in the wild — can help you cultivate a more confident financial environment for all.
Ask yourself: How do I respond to different types of advice? Do I associate confidence with competence, even when the information is shaky? Try noting one piece of advice you initially dismissed, and revisit it with fresh eyes. Question your assumptions, and support those who feel hesitant.
About the Author
4 Influencers Who Want You to Spend Less: Paige Pritchard
Meet Paige, who offers her followers a roadmap for overcoming overspending.
Clay Jarvis
4 Influencers Who Want You to Spend Less: Brennan Coker
Meet Brennan Coker, who rejects flashy spending in favour of a disciplined, sustainable lifestyle.
4 Influencers Who Want You to Spend Less: Christina Mychaskiw
Meet Christina Mychaskiw, who traded an acute shopping addiction for a “minimalist-ish” lifestyle.
4 Influencers Who Want You to Spend Less: Sabrina Pare
Meet Sabrina Pare, who replaced her drive to consume with a passion for sustainability.