Women in Economics

“I like to be enabling, but have all students follow their own passions,” says Claudia Goldin, the Henry Lee Professor of Economics at Harvard University and co-director of the Gender in the Economy Study Group at the National Bureau of Economic Research.

“We're here to serve the public, and I think it's really important that in doing that we represent the society that we serve, all different dimensions of society,” says Sharon Donnery, the first woman appointed deputy governor of the Central Bank of Ireland.

“I actually decided to study economics before I even got to undergrad,” says Hannah Rubinton, economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. She talks with Laura Girresch, manager of media relations, about her research on business dynamism and what it was like to have children during her Ph.D. studies at Princeton University.

“I do think very passionately that economics is a great gig,” says Ellen McGrattan, professor of economics at the University of Minnesota. She discusses economics with three of her former students: Kathleen McKiernan, assistant professor at Vanderbilt University; Emily Moschini, assistant professor at the College of William and Mary; and Ming Xu, assistant professor at Queens University.

“We learned something about how to evaluate criminal justice policy,” says Amanda Michaud, senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. She talks about her research on how criminal justice policy may affect employment among men of prime working age.

“The National Economic Association and its members have done a lot of really important work within the profession, work that is often unheralded,” says Nina Banks, president of the NEA and associate professor at Bucknell University. She talks about her new book and research on community activism by marginalized women.

“Economics, certainly, is about the data and the numbers side of things. But it's also about the stories and the people that are behind those numbers and how we tell those stories,” says Julie Bennett, research associate at the St. Louis Fed. She is joined by fellow research associates Praew Grittayaphong and Maggie Isaacson as they discuss research and working in economics.

“There are so few Black female economists, and I guess … I feel like my perspective is quite different from many white male and female economists that I've seen,” says Kristen Broady, a fellow at the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program and professor of financial economics at Dillard University.

“I have become a much better economist because I have been exposed to a lot of different perspectives,” says Catherine Mann, global chief economist at Citibank from 2018 to 2021. She discusses the influence of her mentors, including U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

“The most exciting part of doing research is having that research have an impact,” says Brigitte Madrian, the dean and Marriott Distinguished Professor in the Brigham Young University Marriott School of Business.

“The institute, as a new entity, really has an amazing opportunity to model for the economics profession what an inclusive, scholarly environment looks like,” says Abigail Wozniak, director of the Opportunity & Inclusive Growth Institute at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.

“Having it all is not having it all at once,” says Nancy Rose, the Charles P. Kindleberger professor of applied economics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She discusses how her interest in public policy led to a career in economics, and how she handles “life-work tension.”

“I think it is critical that we teach basic economics to kids and then build on it year after year, just like we would with any other discipline,” says Mary Suiter, assistant vice president and economic education officer at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

"Tenemos una perspectiva y necesitamos ponerla sobre la mesa", dice Susan Pozo, directora del programa de Estudios Globales e Internacionales y profesora de economía en la Universidad de Western Michigan. Comenta Suzan Pozo en su conversación con Andrea Cáceres-Santamaría, especialista senior en educación económica del Banco de la Reserva Federal de San Luis, sobre su trabajo en Uruguay, España y Estados Unidos, y su investigación sobre la inmigración.

“We have a perspective, and we need to bring that to the table,” says Susan Pozo, director of the Global and International Studies program and professor of economics at Western Michigan University. She discusses her work in Uruguay, Spain and the United States and her research on immigration.

“I didn’t see #MeToo coming, but it came, and it’s taking a while still to come for economics, but it is,” says Betsey Stevenson, professor of public policy and economics at the University of Michigan’s Ford School. She talks about her research on women’s labor market experiences and how her teaching style has changed in 2020.

“Don’t be shy about giving an opinion,” says Veronique de Rugy, senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, and syndicated columnist. She talks about her research on the federal budget, taxation and financial privacy, and using data visualization to educate the public.

“The COVID outbreak has had very differential effects for different geographies and different parts of the country, different metro areas, as well as for different cohorts of people in the economy,” says Beverly Hirtle, executive vice president and director of research at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

“I really saw how economics can be useful in your everyday life and how much those basic principles kind of run the world in some ways,” says Zena Pare, an intern with the St. Louis Fed. She joins fellow intern Ella Needler as they discuss studying and working in economics.

“What my students learned that day besides economics and things that were discussed at the symposium, is that … you may feel small and insignificant at times, and maybe even invisible, but your actions do matter,” says Natallia Gray, associate professor at Southeast Missouri State University. Gray and her students inspired the first Women in Economics Symposium at the St. Louis Fed.

“This profession is what we make it … and, therefore, it's going to take all of us to be responsible to make it a better profession,” says Rhonda Vonshay Sharpe, founder and president of the Women’s Institute for Science, Equity and Race, or WISER.

“There’s really a lot that you can do in a field with a background in econometrics in forecasting,” says Kathleen Navin, an economist and director at IHS Markit. She talks about the challenges of economic forecasting during unprecedented times, like the COVID-19 pandemic.

“FRED really is a public service,” says Yvetta Fortova, manager of the economic data tool FRED. She and Maria Arias, FRED data engineer, both of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, discuss their personal stories about moving to the U.S., studying economics and working in the field.

“I think it’s important for kids, young kids in general, to study economics because economics is in our everyday life,” says Ana Maria Santacreu, a senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. She talks about her research in international trade and economic growth.

“As economists, a lot of the research that we do in an academic environment affects policy,” says Marie Mora, associate provost for Academic Affairs at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Mora and Lea-Rachel Kosnik, UMSL economics professor, talk about their experiences in the field of economics and their roles at the university. Also, UMSL students discuss why they study economics.

“On one hand it’s nice to be the first of something, I guess, but on the other hand, it’s, like, wow, it’s 2019. How has this happened?” says Mackenzie Alston, an assistant professor at Florida State University and the first African American to receive a Ph.D. in economics from Texas A&M University.

“The more different people we bring into the profession to ask different questions, the more we’re going to learn,” says Paula Tkac, senior vice president and associate research director at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.

“This is the one science that helps to explain my world and my experience the most,” says Daria Sevastianova, associate professor of economics at the University of Southern Indiana. Also, students in USI’s Women in Economics Club discuss why they study economics.

“One reason why the U.S. is still a world leader in terms of academic research is because we bring together so many people from all over the world to come to our graduate schools,” says Oksana Leukhina, a senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

“My advice to anyone is just grab every opportunity you can,” says Zanny Minton Beddoes, editor-in-chief of The Economist. She talks about serving as the first female leader of the international news and business publication.

“Economics is not synonymous with finance; we can talk about so many interesting topics, whether it be environmental issues and climate change,” says Tisha Emerson, professor of economics at Baylor University. She discusses her research on the gender gap.

“What distinguishes us as economists from some other sciences is that there is a real world out there which is changing day by day and it’s very important that the right concepts are actually applied in the real world,” says Beatrice Weder di Mauro, Centre for Economic Policy Research president.

“We want to get to a point where it’s normal for underrepresented minority women to succeed at a higher level within these kind of careers,” says Anna Opoku-Agyeman. She and Fanta Traore discuss why they co-founded the Sadie Collective, which aims to cultivate a community of black women in economics, finance and other quantitatively demanding fields.

“In order to understand the portraits that we’re providing to the American people, we need to understand the viewpoints of the American people. And that means a diverse view of the American people,” says Lucia Foster, chief economist at the U.S. Census Bureau and chief of the Center for Economic Studies.

“I think we're on the precipice of change partly because there's increasing awareness of this issue within economics,” says Martha Olney, University of California Berkeley professor. She talks about why she mentors and how former Berkeley undergrad Alice Wu’s thesis took the profession by storm.

“I was born in a different country, and that colored my life experience,” says Carmen Reinhart, Harvard professor, about her decision to study international economics. She discusses the male-dominated field of finance and explains how she approaches economics with a detective’s frame of mind.

“You can't work for the central bank without understanding how the principles of economics come to bear on everything we do,” says Esther George, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. George discusses her background in banking, growing up in rural Missouri and how she expanded the role of women at the Jackson Hole Symposium.

“I’ve really enjoyed feeling like I’m making an impact at an historical time in the Federal Reserve System,” says Jane Ihrig, associate director of the monetary affairs division at the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. Ihrig discusses her education, her work in the economics field and her monetary policy work on the Council of Economic Advisers during the 2008 financial crisis.

“What I'm trying to do is add value … really try to get to understand what someone's thinking, why they're doing what they're doing, where they're heading next,” says Kathleen Hays, the global, economics and policy editor for Bloomberg Television and Radio, about her economics education and its role in her prestigious business reporting career. She also discusses business and journalism changes over her three decades in the reporting field—and whom she’d like to interview next.

“Economics is a good field of study for learning about how to manage your life,” says Barbara Flowers, economic education coordinator at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. She talks about her experience as a nontraditional student and why she is passionate about creating economics curriculum for minority students.

Amanda Bayer is hopeful and optimistic about increasing diversity in the field of economics. “There’s a lot of attention being given to these issues from various points within the profession now, including at the highest levels and the leadership of the AEA, the American Economic Association, but also coming from the Federal Reserve System,” Bayer says in this Women in Economics podcast. “There is enough action coming from enough quarters that we have the potential to change the culture of our profession.”

“Economics is relevant and it's important, and it's much too important to be left to one segment of the population. And historically, the segment has been white privileged males,” says David Wilcox, then-director of the research and statistics division of the Federal Reserve System Board of Governors. He talks about his research on the unequal distribution of economic education, the need to change economics classrooms and how it is the responsibility of every member of the economics profession to work toward diversifying the field.

“People had a hard time taking me seriously, because I'm sure they didn't know any African-Americans who were economists,” says Lisa Cook, associate professor of economics and international relations at Michigan State University. She talks about discovering economics while climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, how she overcame biases she faced as a woman and as an African-American, and her research showing GDP could be higher if more women and African-Americans were involved at the beginning of the innovative process.

“I come from a family of economists. So, of course, I didn’t want to go into economics,” says Kate Warne, a principal and investment strategist at Edward Jones. She talks about why we need women in finance, policy and other fields related to economics. She also discusses the role of education in building confidence: “One of the things education does for you is provide a set of skills that you can be confident in.”

“I never even considered taking an economics class, because I thought it was business. I thought it was about making money,” says Louise Sheiner, the Robert S. Kerr senior fellow in economic studies and policy director for the Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy at the Brookings Institution. She talks about how she stumbled into economics after studying biology, her work in health economics and why she thinks high school debate could spark girls’ interest in econ.

“It's still a very important challenge to get more women and more minorities into the economics profession,” says Lael Brainard, a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. She talks about women in economics at the international level, her time as the U.S. representative to the G20, her focus on financial stability and more.

“There were times when you were the only woman in the room, and you had to bring your self-confidence, your belief in yourself, and the desire for excellence in your pursuits,” says Una Osili, associate dean and professor at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. She talks about the intersection of economics and philanthropy, the state of women in economics internationally and the need for more people of color in the field.

“I think students need to be doing economics, so it’s not me telling them stories or showing them graphs,” says Gail Heyne Hafer, an economics professor at St. Louis Community College-Meramec and author of two children’s books about economics. She shares her stories of how students and teaching have changed during her three decades of teaching economics.

“I may be dyslexic and I can’t read very well. I flip numbers, but I can do calculus in my head,” says Diane Swonk, chief economist and managing director at accounting firm Grant Thornton, as she discusses how her learning disability became a strength. She also discusses how growing up during the economic “demise” of Detroit in the 1970s and 1980s helped show her how economics could have made a difference. “The economics I was learning explained it could have been avoided. And the reality that I could make a difference in this work and people’s lives, that this was really about human behavior, policy and interpreting how to make it better for the world—I was hooked that first class.”

“There are a growing number of communities within economics for young women who may feel isolated or questioning whether or not this is a path that they want to pursue,” says Fenaba Addo, assistant professor of consumer science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a visiting scholar at the St. Louis Fed’s Center for Household Financial Stability. She talks about finding her voice as the only black woman in most of her economics courses on her way to her bachelor’s and graduate degrees. She also discusses her work on economically vulnerable populations, including black families, women and children, low-income households and young adults.

“We are identified as women in the field, and yet, we really want to be known as good in the field regardless of whether we’re a woman or a man,” says Loretta Mester, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. She talks with Maria Hasenstab, senior media relations specialist at the St. Louis Fed, about being a leader in the male-dominated field of economics. They also discuss Mester’s love of math, how she “lucked” into economics, the “publish or perish” mentality in the field, and her adjunct teaching experience at the Wharton School. “You can have a pretty good life and an interesting career by doing economics.”