“She-Wolves” Sheds Light on Untold Stories of Women in Finance

She-Wolves by Paulina Bren

As engaging as it is enraging.

Like many other American institutions, Wall Street began as a “boys-only” club. Since the 1960s, “female pioneers” have been pushing their way into Wall Street’s bad-boy culture and the lavish opulence of this historically male domain. 

In SHE-WOLVES: The Untold History of Women on Wall Street (WW Norton), award-winning historian Paulina Bren brilliantly brings into focus some of the ladies who fought their way into New York City’s finance world. These women have demonstrated tenacity and grit and challenged misogyny while muscling their way to the top of elite firms and onto the trading room floors.

A Detailed Picture of History

Beginning with a history of the New York Stock Exchange in 1792, and then setting the scene of the 1950s when the first women pushed their way into Wall Street’s firms, She-Wolves prepares readers to hear the stories of the bold women of the 1960s. Young women like Alice Jarcho and Beth Dater showed up seeking a foot in the door (as receptionists, secretaries and clerks) and a ladder to climb, and were greeted by brokers and bankers with the outdated idea that “selling and trading, where profit was generated, was for men only.”

From Harvard’s first admittance of female MBA students in response to the women’s movement, to the trailblazing women in finance who continued to face daily taunts and sexual harassment, to the pressures for women in finance to be “like men” and choose between motherhood and career — this book paints a detailed picture of history, all the way up to present day.

Propulsive Story with Lasting Impact

In the 70s and 80s, women gained more freedom to join the world of finance, but counts of discrimination and harassment grew. Throughout the 80s and 90s, leading up to 9/11, Wall Street flourished as a monetary Wild West, with hedge funds soaring and male antics exploding. Only now women were joining forces to push back, especially after 23 Smith Barney women filed a class action lawsuit. Others followed. 

Finally, Bren looks at how Wall Street has evolved since 9/11, arguing that while power has shifted and women are serious players today, they are still often “shunted aside” and “missing in decisions that have long-term effects for us all”. The playbook still belongs to the men.

Women have come incredibly far, but they still have much farther to go. She-Wolves tells an untold story of women in finance and the workforce that is sure to have a lasting impact well into the future.