Lesser known Girl Bosses in Economics

Some common male-dominated fields of study are those in the STEM-related disciplines such as civil engineering and computer programming. Unfortunately, according to this article, the underrepresentation of women in Economics is even worse. This is also seen in the Nobel Prize in Economics: only one woman has ever been awarded this prestigious honor: Elinor Ostrom. That was in 2009, even though they have been awarding this prize since 1969! To top it all off, Ostrom had to share it with someone else.

Before I continue, I should clarify I am not trying to discourage my female readers considering a degree in economics—quite the contrary. Do not let these tragic statistics bring you down, but rather motivate you to represent women in economics. In accordance with this purpose, I will now introduce some women who were able to break this glass ceiling.

Beatrice Webb

I came across Beatrice Webb while doing research for an unrelated essay. The book I was reading called her an advocate of Fabianism: a socialist movement whose influence is still present in British politics today. Besides co-founding the London School of Economics—today ranked fourth in the world, only after MIT, Harvard, and Stanford—Webb was a crucial force in social and economic reforms in Great Britain in the early 1900s.

From an early age, Webb questioned the business affairs of her dad, a very rich man, and after becoming acquainted with members of the working class cooperative movement, her socialist ideologies started to take form. Together, Webb and her husband devoted most of their lives to political and economic research. They wrote many books with the purpose of introducing social history to the British people, with hopes of empowering the working class.

Janet Yellen

Janet Yellen until two weeks ago held the position of Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Fed) in the US. She basically ran the world’s biggest bank. I came across Yellen when I Googled the term “female economist” and she was the first one to pop up. As I opened the first link, I read that Yellen was the first women to hold this position, so evidently, she could not go unmentioned.

Now, let’s give a brief account of her accomplishments. She completed her undergraduate degree at Brown University and her PhD at Yale University, where she was the only woman of 12 students in her doctoral class. After this, she was:

• A lecturer at the London School of Economics (Special shout-out to Beatrice Webb),

• Professor at the University of California in Berkeley,

• Member of the Board of Governors of the Fed,

• Chair of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers,

• President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, and

• Vice Chair of the Board of Governors of the Fed.

Most recently, this video named President Trump her “most vocal antagonist,” yet she has fought back against one of the scariest and most inexperienced presidents with facts and figures—more reasons to look up to her. Finally, before becoming Chair of Fed, this article published in The Washington Post explains how “Yellen’s ability to connect economic theory to ordinary life has been one of the defining characteristics of her career.” The article also notes Yellen instructed staff members at the Fed to call her chair, not chairwoman.

Dambisa Moyo

As a TED talks enthusiast, I have to mention a woman I came across through this inspiring platform. Dambisa Moyo, an economist from Zambia, showcases her aptitudes for global affairs in her writing. As a world-renowned author, Moyo began studying chemistry, then studied finance, public policy, and economics. Besides working as a Goldman Sachs research economist and strategist for 7 years, Moyo has been featured by the African Success organization, and was also criticized by Bill Gates, who accused her of not understanding aid and “promoting evil”. To this last bit, Moyo responded as follows:

“I find it disappointing that Mr. Gates would not only conflate my arguments about structural aid with those about emergency or NGO aid, but also that he would then use this gross misrepresentation of my work to publicly attack my knowledge, background, and value system.”

Then she added:

“I have dedicated many years to economic study up to the PhD level, to analyze and understand the inherent weaknesses of aid, and why aid policies have consistently failed to deliver on economic growth and poverty alleviation. To this, I add my experience working as a consultant at the World Bank, and being born and raised in Zambia, one of the poorest aid-recipients in the world. This first-hand knowledge and experience has highlighted for me the legacy of failures of aid, and provided me with a unique understanding of not only the failures of the aid system but also of the tools for what could bring African economic success.”

You can read Moyo’s full response on her blog.

Elsa de Mena

I would like to end this list with my grandmother, Elsa de Mena.

An Ecuador-based economist, de Mena was raised by nuns in a boarding school, and it is one of these nuns whom I would like to acknowledge. At a young age, de Mena thought she wanted to devote her life to Catholicism. Fortunately, the aforementioned nun encouraged her not to, claiming it would be a waste of her talent and intelligence. De Mena then resolved she would study medicine. The issue was that, at that moment in time, it was frowned upon for young girls of her type of background to study at the Central University of Ecuador, the largest public research school in Ecuador. Because of this social obstacle, she opted for economics against her father’s will, who wanted her to study law instead. And so, she started completing her first of many degrees to come.

Among her jobs, the most notable one was head director of the Internal Revenue Service of Ecuador, the entity responsible for collecting taxes. Many people in Ecuador, after learning my last name, have asked me if I am related to her. Although I contributed in no way to her accomplishments at the IRS, I feel immensely flattered to be associated with her because I know the story behind it. During Ecuador’s worst economic crisis in the late 90s, de Mena was appointed the head of this crucial governmental entity. President Jamil Mahuad needed someone with her professional and social skills to help Ecuador recover from this crisis through tax collection. One of her collaborators said the following in regard to the conditions under which they received the former IRS: “Only debris is what they have left us.”

And she succeeded. De Mena today explains that she was able to do so by having a clear vision of what had to be resolved in the organization, and a clear understanding of why the IRS was valuable. She established the new project together with the Minister of Finance at the time, while keeping in mind they had to recover the dignity of the tax service in order to show respect for the taxpayers.  After leaving the IRS, de Mena held other important positions listed here: “adviser,” “president,” “general manager,” “instructor,” and “professor” are some of the words you will come across.

Today, she is the only woman among seventeen men in an organization founded with the purpose of defending democracy and liberty in Ecuador. The organization, Cauce Democrático (Democratic Channel), was founded by former president Osvaldo Hurtado, and arises partly due to the crisis that stemmed from corruption during Rafael Correa’s administration. Among the men in the organization are ex-president Hurtado, former vice president Pinto, two former heads of Congress, and other notable characters.

Finally, if any of my readers are proficient in Spanish, I would invite them to listen this interview of de Mena by Jorge Ortiz, a distinguished Ecuadorian journalist.

Lesser known girl bosses in Economics are worth noting because they exist. Women might not be represented well in many fields, as shown by the statistics at the beginning, but those numbers are not set in stone. As Tracee Ellis states in this video, we women should “truly [own] our own power, agency and sexuality, especially in this moment, in all its volatility, with all that is happening as the pussy-grab tree is shaking and grabbers are dropping like rotten fruit.”

We must rise to the occasion by working hard and hopefully getting the recognition we deserve. And even if we don’t get the recognition we deserve, let us still do it, because our efforts matter; let this type of article trigger the girl boss inside of you!

I would like to finish by introducing the Canadian Women Economists Network (CWEN). As mentioned on their website, CWEN “was founded in 1990 as an independent association of persons interested in promoting women economists and their ideas.” They are “a small community, spread over a large country.” Check it out—you won’t be disappointed.

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