For the 2nd WEMS event held at the end of 2024, three guest speakers from academia and industry visited Manchester Met to share their experiences as female economists in a male dominated field. The event was supported by the newly established Corporate Women’s Society. Female economists from the Universities of Liverpool and Manchester as well as female economics students and staff from Manchester Met attended the event.

Lotta Takala-Greenish (Associate Professor of Development Economics, UWE) kicked off the event by sharing her research and interest in development economics. Lotta’s inspired message to the students was that of resilience and trusting your gut-feeling while challenging established truths. This not only spurs on and motivates important research, but it also grounds experiences and expectations for all female economists.

Chloe Parkins (Lead Economist Tourism, Oxford Economics) followed Lotta’s presentation and recalled her winding career path leading to economics while laying out the day-to-day responsibilities of an economist working in industry. Chloe discussed some of the reports she has been working on including the economic impact of the 2024 Paris Olympics and a long-haul travel analysis for the European Travel Commission. Chloe concluded by noting that, even if the utmost care is taken to give precise economics predictions, these forecasts may not always come true considering the unpredictability of future global events. She noted the geopolitical tensions and wars as a case in point.

Bianca Orsi (Lecturer University of Leeds) concluded the presentations by talking about one of her research projects (Women Into Studying Economics – WiSE) and what motivated her to start this . For example only 27% of all economics students in the UK are female representing a greater gender imbalance than that observed in the STEM subjects, while only 26% of economic academics are women. Bianca believes this gender imbalance has negative implications on the performance of organisations, on policy advice that might be unconsciously biased, and on issues concerned with pay equality. Bianca’s research has also found that the skewed gender distribution influences pupils’ perceptions of economists who are typically described as “alpha-males” and “White men with slicked back hair and shiny shoes” chasing the money.

The event concluded with a Q&A session chaired by Rowida and Fatima both female economics students and members of the Corporate Women’s Society. Here the presenters and attending lecturers shared their experiences as female economists urging attending female students to be resilient whilst knowing that there are others like them out there. After all, we are all in this together and we can only as a community change the face of economics.

WEMS provides the needed female support, community, connection and mentorship to carve out our place within economics helping to bring about the needed change.

Our deep gratitude goes out to our presenters who were available on short notice and travelled to Manchester, Lotta, Chloe and Bianca. The support and help before and during the event by the Corporate Women’s Society is also greatly appreciated. Thank you, ladies for your help in organising and running the event, and taking notes and pictures. And lastly a big thank you to those from within and outside Manchester Metropolitan University who came along, added to great discussions and helped grow this network a little bit more.

The next WEMS event will take place 5th February. Danielle Guizzo will present her paper The Role of Herstories in Economic Thought.