“I want to foster a culture at SSE where women support each other both during and after their studies”: Alva Jansson, Project Leader of the SASSE Women’s Network at SSE on their 2024 plans + how to get more women to consider a career in finance

The SASSE Women’s Network is a networking community for all female students at the Stockholm School of Economics. In an interview, we caught up with Alva Jansson, the group’s 2024 Project Leader, to chat about her ambitions for this year, as well as her thoughts on the finance industry.
 
Could you give us a short description of the types of activities that the SASSE Women’s Network offers?
We offer a networking community for all female students at the Stockholm School of Economics. Our focus is on enabling the creation of valuable networks between female students and with the business world. The Women’s Network offers a wide range of events and activities, ranging from company events and educational events, to inspirational lectures and our mentorship program (my personal favourite). The mentorship program connects female students with women working in finance, sustainability, management consulting, real estate and other industries. Students have the unique opportunity to meet their mentors for two “fikas”, which allows them to gain valuable insight into the industry and hear about the experience of being a woman within it.

You are the current project leader of the SASSE Women’s Network; what motivated you to pursue this role alongside your studies?
I am truly passionate about the importance of helping female students reach their full potential. In my current role, I get to come up with creative ways of improving the relationship between female business students and male dominated industries, something that hopefully will create an impact. Although we have seen improvements in addressing the gender imbalance in many industries in recent years, I feel that so much more can be done, and therefore I want to contribute. I see a large potential for the Women’s Network to grow, and hopefully I can contribute to that growth. In addition, I wanted to try out being a project leader, since it provides practical experience in leadership, responsibility and networking, which I believe will be useful in my future career.

“Although we have seen improvements in addressing the gender imbalance in many industries in recent years, I feel that so much more can be done, and therefore I want to contribute”.

Can you tell us about your ambitions and plans for the SASSE Women’s Network in 2024? Will you be doing anything different than in previous years?
In 2024, my overarching ambition is to expand our student outreach through more events and by encouraging a greater focus on the finance industry. We will launch a Facebook community that will offer a supportive space for all students and, in a few years, alumni, facilitating discussion on topics related to work, finance, salaries, diversity, ESG, etc. I want to foster a culture at SSE where women support each other both during and after their studies. We already have many mentors who are more than eager to contribute to the Women’s Network through the mentorship program, and consequently I want to extend these connections throughout the whole year via social media platforms to create a dynamic support system for our members. Furthermore, I want to forge collaboration between finance-oriented projects within SASSE (such as the Stockholm Student Investment Fund) and the Women’s Network, to connect these two worlds through an event or a try-out session. I would also like to introduce a new recurring event at the end of the spring semester, which would help the Women’s Network grow as a recognised “brand” and serve as a platform for female students and external relations.

How will the support from the ABG Sundal Collier Women in Finance Foundation help you reach your goals this year?
The Foundation shares our ambitions, and we are grateful for its generous financial support, which will help us realise our goals. The funding will be used to cover event-related costs, like the planned annual networking event. It will also allow us to deliver an increased number of other events and initiatives throughout the year.

Above: The 2024 project group for the SASSE Women’s Network includes (from left) Ellinor Thulin (Head of Marketing), Alma Samuelsson (Head of Event), Alva Jansson (Project Leader) and Johanna Alkesjö (Head of Event).

What’s your sense of what the popular career path choices are among female students at the Stockholm School of Economics?
SSE offers a broad range of study options, from which one can go on to enter all kinds of sectors, including everything from accounting to marketing or consulting. I believe there is a substantial interest among female students to pursue a career within the finance industry, but I think there are obstacles hindering some women from pursuing these ambitions, such as the “imposter syndrome” or a belief that they might not have sufficient competence.

Do you think there is anything that might encourage more female students to consider finance as a possible career path?
Finance is a rather closed industry, and not very easy to understand from the outside. I think that meeting women in finance in real-life settings, such as through insight days, could be the key to opening up the world of finance to everyone who might be interested. In addition, I believe that seeing other women doing it could encourage more female students to take the step from considering finance to actually applying for a finance job/internship. The finance industry offers many paths and opportunities, and I think that experiencing it firsthand could help foster greater confidence and interest in it. Additional knowledge and experience of the industry could help remedy female students’ feelings of not belonging.

“I think that meeting women in finance in real-life settings, such as through insight days, could be the key to opening up the world of finance to everyone who might be interested”.

What do you think the finance industry could be doing to attract more women?
I think the industry could do more to emphasise the variety of possible career paths within finance. I believe women would value having the opportunity to discover the flexibility that the industry has to offer, and therefore networking with people from different roles and career paths could enhance women’s interest. Casual networking events in more relaxed settings, in combination with more hands-on work, could help rectify misconceptions or prejudices about the industry, while at the same time enable more women to understand the actual work. This would also forge deeper connections prior to women considering internship/job applications. I also believe it’s important for women to represent firms at career fairs, events or even in connection with job advertisements.

And finally, can you tell us what appeals to you about a possible career in finance? 
What appeals to me about a career in finance is the combination of analytics and numbers and the people and environment revolving around them. I have always liked maths and delving deep into a complex problem or challenge. I also value the societal and macroeconomic dimension of finance, and the fact that the work is always done in the context of the dynamic outside world. This industry is so broad, and it is exciting to know that finance is integral to all firms, sectors and countries, and that there will always be a new challenge to take on. While I don’t have a precise career path mapped out yet, I know that the broad nature of the finance industry will allow me to explore different roles if I want to, and I look forward to doing so.

Alva Jansson is in her second year of a BSc in Business and Economics at SSE.