Women in Economics

"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 ov...

"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...