Prepared for Mirror Review, April 2025
By Juliana Derr
Across the world, women are stepping into roles of leadership, innovation, and entrepreneurship. Yet a stubborn gap continues to undermine not only their potential but global economic progress: financial literacy. According to recent studies by the World Bank and the OECD, women consistently score lower than men on basic financial knowledge tests—even when education levels are the same. The implications go far beyond household budgeting. This disparity quietly erodes economic resilience, deepens cycles of poverty, and hinders the growth of communities and nations.
A Silent Global Crisis
Financial literacy is the ability to understand and effectively use various financial skills, including budgeting, investing, and managing debt. While this may seem like a personal skill, its absence becomes a systemic issue when half the global population is left behind. Women’s financial exclusion is both a cause and a consequence of gender inequality.
The lack of financial literacy among women isn’t due to a lack of intelligence or capability—it’s the result of structural and cultural barriers. In many countries, women are still excluded from financial decision-making, denied access to bank accounts, or discouraged from engaging in economic conversations. Even in more progressive societies, financial education often fails to reach women in ways that resonate with their lived experiences or needs.
And the ripple effects are devastating.
Women who lack financial knowledge are more vulnerable to predatory lending, economic abuse, and poverty in old age. When women are unable to invest, save, or build credit, they’re less likely to start businesses, own property, or break free from dependency. This not only suppresses individual agency but also chokes off potential streams of innovation, employment, and GDP growth.
According to the McKinsey Global Institute, closing gender gaps in the workforce, including access to financial resources, could add $28 trillion to the global economy by 2025. But this potential remains out of reach unless we address the root: knowledge.
The Ethical Use of Technology: A Path Forward
Technology is often hailed as a great equalizer, but it has also mirrored and reinforced biases in society. The rise of financial technologies—apps, platforms, algorithms—has created new opportunities for inclusion but also new pitfalls. When designed without considering diverse users, these tools can perpetuate the same barriers they claim to dismantle.
That’s where ethics must come in. Ethical technology means more than securing data and avoiding bias—it means intentionally building systems that empower the underserved. It means designing with empathy, testing with diverse users, and being transparent about how decisions are made.
For example, AI-driven financial education platforms can be tailored to meet women where they are, using culturally relevant content and delivery methods that are accessible across languages, literacy levels, and digital divides. Technologies can incorporate storytelling, community engagement, and scenario-based learning to make financial concepts more intuitive. Importantly, tech can also be used to protect women from economic abuse, such as alerting them to suspicious financial activity or helping them create safe, anonymous savings accounts.
But ethical tech alone is not enough. It must be paired with intentional, tailored education— initiatives designed with and for women, not just adapted from general models. This includes programs led by women in their communities, mentorship networks, and financial literacy embedded in broader efforts around health, parenting, and career development. Education must recognize that women’s financial realities are often tied to unpaid care work, caregiving responsibilities, and unequal pay. Teaching must acknowledge these systemic challenges while still equipping women to navigate and transform them.
Moving From Awareness to Action
Bridging the financial literacy gap for women is not a luxury or a side project. It is a global imperative. Addressing this issue demands collaboration from governments, educators, financial institutions, technology developers, and community leaders.
We must stop asking whether women are “ready” to handle money and instead ask how systems can better support their participation. We must demand that financial tools reflect the diversity of those who use them. And we must ensure that the pursuit of innovation does not leave behind those who stand to benefit most from it.
The return on this investment is profound. When women are financially literate, they are more likely to invest in their children’s education, start businesses, and contribute to economic stability. They become agents of change, not just beneficiaries of aid.
Empowering women with financial knowledge is not just about fairness—it’s about building a future in which prosperity is shared, sustainable, and inclusive.
About the Author
Juliana Derr is the CEO and Founder of PartnerAlly, a risk and compliance platform built on top of strategic partnerships across the tech ecosystem. Drawing on over two decades of
leadership at Apple, Cisco, and other global companies, Juliana helps businesses navigate complexity through trusted collaboration and responsible innovation. A certified professional coach and advocate for equity in tech, she is deeply committed to empowering underserved communities—especially women—through ethical technology, inclusive education, and sustainable growth.
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