TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Women continue to earn less than their male counterparts, with the national average at 82 cents for every dollar earned by men, according to the director of the University of Arizona’s Freedom Center.
In the financial industry, that disparity can be even greater.
To help combat this issue, programs like Invest in Girls are working to educate and empower young women with financial literacy skills.
“My dream job is to become a construction engineer,” said Arisbeth Fraire, a 12th-grade student at Valley Vista High School. “And so I figured that with running my own business, it would be good to have a personal finance program to kind of teach me where I should go and where I can start that route.”
Students from the Phoenix area recently participated in a unique financial literacy event at the University of Arizona, where they met with finance professors to gain firsthand experience in managing money.
The Invest in Girls program, designed to introduce high school students to personal finance, investing, and career planning, has been implemented in select schools.
“Oh, money is the way of the world!” said Stephanie Maya, an 11th-grader at Valley Vista High School.
The initiative also highlights historical barriers women have faced in finance.
“In 1974, women weren’t even allowed to own a bank account, apply for credit to start a business or get a mortgage,” said Elena Zee, President and CEO of the Arizona Council of Economic Education.
Despite progress, disparities remain. According to a Forbes magazine report, women currently hold only 15% of executive roles in the finance industry.
“There’s research that’s been done that suggests when you see even just a female in an economics classroom, it actually increases the number of girls who become economics majors,” said Mary Rigdon, Director of the University of Arizona Freedom Center.
“Part of evening the playing field is financial literacy,” said Robin Palmer, an education specialist at the Freedom Center. “We feel it’s super important to do activities with teenagers to help them understand the influence of people’s money decisions on them.”
On Thursday, the 28 girls in Valley Vista High School's program toured campus, heard from women in finance, and took steps toward their career goals.
“I hope that these programs grow and continue to keep growing for young women so they can also be successful,” Maya said.
According to a Freedom Center spokesperson, the program will move to a different school next year and is considering expanding to a high school in Tucson.
With expansion plans, Invest in Girls aims to reach more students across Arizona and equip them with the tools for financial success.
——
Eddie Celaya is a multimedia journalist at KGUN 9. Born in Tucson and raised in the Phoenix area, Eddie is a life-long Arizonan and graduate of the University of Arizona who loves the desert and mountains and hates the cold. Previously, Eddie worked in print media at the Arizona Daily Star. Share your story ideas with Eddie at edward.celaya@kgun9.com, or by connecting on Facebook or Instagram.
----
STAY IN TOUCH WITH US ANYTIME, ANYWHERE
