Women only got access to the London Stock Exchange in 1973, why did it take so long?

On March 26, 1973, the London Stock Exchange admitted its first female members. This followed years of backlash, with London falling behind other smaller stock exchanges in the UK.

The exclusion of women for so long was not only due to institutional misogyny. Research has revealed what finances were like presented in sexist terms for centuries. And despite the extraordinary achievements of prominent female figures over the past 50 years, these biased beliefs persist to this day.

Long before stock markets existed, women were active investors and speculators. They navigated the bustling coffee shops of London’s Exchange Alley, where people met to trade stocks. She sometimes acted as an intermediary, managing the investments of others in exchange for a commission. In other words, women were stockbrokers.

But their presence in the market often attracted attention. This was especially true in times of crisis, such as the South Sea Bubble in 1720, one of the UK’s first speculative manias. Male commentators claimed that women were too emotional to be effective investors, let alone brokers. Only men, they believed, could exercise the self-control necessary to control the market.

So women were squeezed out. The title of the bestselling 18th century investment guide Everyone has their own broker was telling. The author, Thomas Mortimer, believed that women should only invest through a male relative. And he certainly didn’t think they could be brokers.

How financial institutionalization excluded women

When stockbrokers moved to a purpose-built stock exchange in the heart of the City of London in the early 1800s, they signed up for a new set of rules. While these did not specifically exclude women, the wording made it clear that the exchange was for men only:

No new candidate for admission is admissible if he or his wife is in business.

Scholarships were established in towns and cities across the UK later in the century, and followed London in excluding women.

Yet they never had a monopoly. From the 1880s, a few enterprising women began to set up their own brokerage. Trade a stone’s throw from the Bank of England, Amy Bell specialized in trafficking in women. She tried to educate them on a subject they had often kept ignorant:

I want women to understand their money business and have fun handling it. After all, is money such a dirty consideration?

Some were the daughters of stockbrokers who worked in family businesses and occasionally took over after the father’s death. Others had no family ties and started out in secretarial positions. They worked their way up to senior positions such as Edith Midgley in Bradford.

In the US, meanwhile, there are pioneering figures such as the radical feminist Victoria Woodhull paved the way for a female presence on Wall Street.

By the interwar period, women had proven they could be successful stockbrokers. Clients, both men and women, reportedly had no objections. In fact, many preferred to associate with a woman. But convincing institutions was much more difficult.

Publicly, the position of the London Stock Exchanges was that there was no rule prohibiting women from joining. Privately, when women tried to apply – the first as far back as 1936 – they were firmly told to drop the case.

What changed? 1973 was not the result of an institution that quietly moved along with public opinion. A series of dramatic votes on the issue between 1967 and 1971 all went against admitting women. Brokers claimed that women were too delicate for the trading floor, they would be displaced, they would be offended by the language. One broker was clear that this was no place for a woman:

When I’m there I’m there on business and when I’m on business I don’t tend to be as friendly as when I’m pouring sherry at home.

Another explained that stock trading, like mining, was best done by men.

How sexist views on finance persist

Outside London, attitudes changed. Without much fanfare, smaller exchanges began accepting female applicants. Aberdeen was the first in 1964, soon followed by Sheffield and Huddersfield. Larger exchanges followed. By the early 1970s, Glasgow, Nottingham and Manchester had all gained female members.

This was of interest to London, as there had been plans for several years to merge the country’s stock exchanges to promote efficiency. In 1972, contrary to the polls on women being admitted, London members voted enthusiastically for the creation of a United Stock Exchange.

Muriel Bailey, a real estate agent, had long campaigned for equality in the city. In a filmed BBC interview in 1967, she had spoken candidly about the stock market’s deep-rooted prejudice against female members, which is nothing short of ridiculous. She explained that she did the same job as the partners and wanted the same status as them.

In 1972 she seized her chance. In a letter to the London Stock Exchange, she pointed out that under the new rules, provincial brokers – including some women – would have access to the London trading floor, while those who happened to work in the capital would not. This was unsustainable, she said. The authorities had to give in.

The day women were admitted, members were on their best behavior in front of the cameras. Those who ventured onto the floor reported a friendly welcome. But it wasn’t quite the win it seemed.

Members had not voted for equality. It had been forced on them before. And they quickly made it clear that this was still a man’s domain.

Women were cast as interlopers, and some were harassed. A new member who dared to wear a miniskirt facing catcalls, wolf whistles and shouts of Get em off!. They were all given derogatory nicknames.

Nevertheless, women have succeeded over the last 50 years forge successful careers in the city. Some, including current London Stock Exchanges CEO Julia Hoggett, have shown they can make it to the top. Challenging however, the macho culture has been much more difficult.

History shows that finance is not inherently masculine. Rather, it was constructed as such by the institutions that tried to exclude women. In fact, despite the barriers they’ve faced, women have been trading successfully as stock brokers on and off for over 300 years.

The gendered beliefs that are still widespread today – those are men more financially literate and those are women overly risk averse – are determined more by culture than by biology. Recognizing this is the next step towards fulfilling the 1973 promise.