Women in the derivatives business encounter quite a few challenges.
It's a great mom job.
I liken it to being the only woman at a stag party.
When the opening bell rings at 9:30, you're not a man or a woman, just a trader.
People will yell at you, abuse you and try to break you. You can't take it personally.
You just scream louder.
My son was born at noon, and I was on the phone with my trader at 1:30. On Wall Street, if you leave for too long, they replace you.
Linda Bradford Raschke is so serious about trading that she traded right through the last day of her pregnancy. You didn't trade while you were in labor?' I asked her half-jokingly. Well, no,' she said, but then again, it was four A.M. and the markets weren't open. I did, however, put on a trade about three hours after I gave birth to my daughter.'
Being a woman working in Europe within a male-oriented business also wasn't particularly easy. Sometimes I felt like I was the only female member of a European football team.
Christina Engelchor
former foreign exchange salesperson, ABN Amro
Derivatives Strategy, October, 2000, p. 18
I decided how I wanted to approach the market and how I wanted
to approach life in the pit. My behavior was not going to change based on
the pit environment. My personal code would not change; I do not use foul
language ever. I felt it was possible to go into the pit and trade and still
be a lady. I expect to be respected, and I also expect from myself behavior
that warrants respect.
Leslie Henner Burns
Futures
July, 2002, p. 82
Last updated: January 9, 2011