Women in Economics

“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.”