St. 做厙輦⑹s economics and political science department does not look like your average academic program. The main difference: a diverse, women-led student, faculty, and staff population.
Even though 60% of all U.S. undergraduates are women, on average, only about 30% of economics undergraduates are women, said Kristine West, PhD, Endowed Professor in the Sciences, in the fall 2020 issue of St. 做厙輦⑹ Magazine. In 2019, just 4 % of economics PhDs were awarded to African-American women, West adds. Thats a really shocking statistic.Noticing the large gap, West dove deeper into the issue by launching the Minnesota Center for Diversity in Economics (MCDE), which aims at diversifying economics through education, outreach, and activism.
Were really interested in getting more girls and young women, and more people in the community who really represent the community, to be aware of economics as a field while they are in high school and middle school, West says. That way, the pipeline of students arriving at college is full of people interested in economics and thinking about what it has to offer.
In addition to gender and racial underrepresentation in the economics field, Wests academic and activist focus at St. Kates includes topics such as discrepancies in Indigenous populations earnings and historic and current-day racial segregation in Minnesota.