Fish, Jenna2012-08-272012-08-272012-08-27https://hdl.handle.net/11299/132175There is a current debate in the literature as to whether females are more risk averse than males. The studies finding females to be more risk averse studied male and female behavior in the realm of retirement fund selection, while research finding that females exhibit similar levels of risk as males were studies comparing male and female mutual fund managers. In addition to these distinctly different contexts, much of the research that found females to exhibit similar risks as males were completed more recently. To further research the relationship between risk aversion and gender I am investigating what factors affect a person’s risk aversion and whether or not risk aversion is related to gender. My research comes from a study of college-aged students (ages18-22) participating in a classroom investing assignment where students were divided into groups randomly based on gender and given a hypothetical $500,000 to invest in the market with a goal of earning the highest returns. I find that females are shown to be more risk averse. Even when controlling for financial knowledge and experience, females were more risk averse.en-USCum LaudeAccountingUniversity Honors ProgramThesis or Dissertation