Gender Lens Investing: A Dynamic Solution to Gender Inequality

In the face of the complex and multifaceted nature of many of the global issues that the world faces today, finding solutions can be daunting. In recent years, however, the idea of impact investing has emerged at the center of a movement to connect the developed and developing world, harnessing the mechanisms of the increasingly globalized economy to do so. Impact investing uses the inbuilt incentives of capitalist economics for the benefit of society, while simultaneously creating financial returns for investors. Within this broader umbrella is gender lens investing, which aims to further feminist causes and the economic empowerment of women. It can contain within its scope investment companies that work directly with women’s issues, and those run by women themselves.

The feminist movement around the world is in many ways one of the defining universal movements of modern history. With its West-centric ideological bend, feminism has prompted mass mobilization and support for ideas like women’s suffrage, social equality, and most recently the fight against sexual harassment and exploitation. The fight for feminist causes, however, has almost invariably involved a bottom-up mobilization. In early 20th Century Britain, for example, the Suffragette movement was one of the key factors in achieving women’s enfranchisement.[1] In the mid 20th century, the works of intellectuals such as Betty Friedan and Simone de Beauvoir set the ideological foundation for a movement that unified millions of women against their comparative social inequality in society, at the level of their own individual relationships.[2] This mobilization effectively combatted localized issues and created change in the societies and issues women faced in them.

The world of these 20th century feminists has become more interconnected. Support for movements can spark in one part of the world and catch fire in another. This means that there is an immense capacity to make change on a scale that has not previously been possible. While the capacity is great, so are the logistical challenges. However, they can be framed as an opportunity to tackle the “intersectional”[3] nature of the entrenched problems relating to gender inequality around the world which sees feminist issues as being linked to issues such as race, age, and sexuality.[4] Emma Goldman, an outspoken early 20th Century-feminist, argued that the “emancipation” of women in one sphere of society—such as the work place or the home—can often lead to their stifling in another sphere.[5] It is this challenge that gender lens investing seeks to combat.

Theoretically, by combating social inequality through addressing economic inequality, gender lens investing simultaneously unifies and diversifies the fight against these issues. Its general theoretical model is as follows: capital goes from wealthier female investors to working class female entrepreneurs, whose companies directly impact impoverished and/or marginalized women. Furthermore, this type of model can take place both within societies as well as across societies - such as between the developed and developing world. For Bangladeshi entrepreneur Ivy Haq Russell, this model made a huge difference. A female philanthropist invested in Russell’s app Maya, which responds to rural women’s questions about their health. Thanks to the investment, Russell was able to ensure the app had the infrastructure it needed to succeed, and Maya has now taken off with millions of users across Asia.[6] At each level, these women gain empowerment: female investors are motivated to use their own wealth to combat causes with which they can relate, female entrepreneurs get to see their ideas flourish and grow their businesses, and women who need the most help are able to receive it.

The very nature of investing incentivizes efficiency and maximal returns. Individuals get to be altruistic and support causes that are important to them while also diversifying their own investment portfolios. Furthermore, public companies have increasing incentives to invest in socially responsible ways since their choices can impact their share price. Gender lens investing, therefore, creates incentives, engenders impact, and has an extremely broad reach.

But gender lens investing still has a long way to go. In India, for example, investors almost exclusively focused on female entrepreneurs, ignoring the startups tackling issues directly related to gender.[7] While this improves the lives of certain female entrepreneurs, it does little to improve the wellbeing of most women across the country. Hopefully, gender equity will become a consideration for every investor, not just those concerned with social change.

Gender lens investing tackles the historic struggles of the feminist movement, head on, with a unique approach. By connecting women in different economic spheres for their mutual benefit, gender lens investing is a unique way to combat gender inequality. Although still new, the theoretical foundations of gender lens investing are powerful, and its progress thus far has made a difference in the lives of many women.

Illustration by Samantha Malzahn

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