Founded in 2021, the local chapter already connects teenage girls with women role models across an array of industries, including those dominated by men, helping them overcome stereotypes about what careers women can pursue and excel in.

Ines Gafsi, director and chair of the local chapter, said introducing young girls to such women was important to tackle the gender imbalance in many fields, citing reports that showed women only made up 20 per cent of fund managers and 29 per cent of management positions in the city’s finance sector.

“There’s still a big gender gap worldwide,” Gafsi said. “We know that to close the gender gap, we need to have role models for girls who are female, and what we observe from our programme is once a girl hears from a role model who is female in that space, she’s actually twice as likely to consider a career in that particular industry.”

The project will tap into Inspiring Girls Hong Kong’s wide network of women entrepreneurs – from leaders in hospitality, architecture and design to communication professionals – who will work with the students to help them build self-confidence and a positive attitude towards money, according to Hazel Zou, the chapter’s programme coordinator.

Many of the women had themselves overcome difficulties in achieving their career goals, Zou said.

Activities will include attending career and money management workshops that teach how to invest wisely; playing a life-size Monopoly-like board game where they simulate real-world investing, including in property and stocks; and field trips and learning about ways to build a successful business without huge capital.

Leading financial corporations will work with the charity to curate the programme’s content. Eventually, the girls will have a chance to take up internships at major financial companies in Hong Kong, according to the group.

Gafsi said that many girls from low-income backgrounds had told the charity that their families expected them to give up further studies to take care of younger siblings or get a job to support their loved ones and eventually get married.

“Their socio-economic background is also pushing them to try to find a job sooner rather than later because they want to support their family financially,” Gafsi said.

By focusing on girls from disadvantaged backgrounds, the project could help pull families out of intergenerational poverty and low-paying jobs, she said, adding that financial literacy helped girls to find jobs, earn a higher income and become better at managing issues such as debt.

Gafsi added programme participants would also receive access to an online portal, where they could find learning content, monitor their progress through assessments and secure various incentives such as additional courses, cash coupons, mentors and opportunities for work placements.

The scheme will initially be available to 1,500 girls aged 16 to 18 across 10 public schools. It is expected to eventually expand to 160 secondary schools and benefit more than 20,000 girls.

Chloe Wong, a 15-year-old high school student selected as the chapter’s ambassador for the 2023-24 academic year, said she had benefited from its programmes.

“I didn’t know anything about the financial industry because my parents are not involved in it,” she said. “I heard from women entrepreneurs who were able to start their own business, including a Malaysian woman who started an education technology company. It was really eye-opening.”

She said there were still stereotypes in the city about what careers women should pursue.

“People think that STEM [science, technology, engineering and mathematics] is better for boys and girls are more suited for literature,” she said. “I wanted to choose a career in science, but my grandmother said I would struggle and should instead stick to arts.”