We need many more women in the field of economics

It is crucial for young girls to have female mentors because research shows that it encourages them to persevere ahead, despite difficulties.

'More women is good economics — economists

Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee were awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize in Economics. (AP Photo: Michael Dwyer)

The person who convinced me to do a PhD in economics was Abhijit Banerjee of MIT, when I worked with him on one of the first randomised controlled trials in the field of economics in the late 1990s. During my PhD, I had the good fortune to work closely with several exceptional scholars. Jonathan Morduch, William Easterly, Andrew Schotter and the legendary William Baumol — each have made a lasting impression on my worldview and philosophy of life. I did not, however, see enough women faculty around. I was surrounded by extremely smart and driven people, but mostly men. You think that you are gender-blind, but in reality, one begins to internalise the highly unequal world of the economics profession. Reality kicks hardest when, as a young economics faculty, you choose to also become a mother. There is so little support forthcoming that you have to put up a fight almost every step of the way. I think this is why most female economists at the top are battle hardened (given the survivor bias!). I firmly believe that we need many more women in the field of economics — but this will only begin to happen when we equalise all the costs (explicit and implicit) for men and women in the profession.