Dr Swati Dhingra is an external Monetary Policy Committee member at the Bank of England. She is an Associate Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics, and an Associate of the Centre for Economic Performance at LSE. She is a Director of The Royal Mint Museum and a member of the Steering Group for the UK’s Economy 2030 Inquiry. Recently, she has also been a member of the UK’s Trade Modelling Review Expert Panel and the LSE’s Economic Diplomacy Commission. Here’s her Q&A where she talks about a woman’s role in running a successful economy.
How important is a woman’s role in running a successful economy?
It is vital. If 50 per cent of the population is systematically under-represented, the efficiency loss to the economy has got to be large. This is not just a matter of equity but efficiency.
I read Marilyn Waring’s If Women Counted as a young student and it enabled me to appreciate the importance of women’s voices in the economy. Much of women’s work is unpaid or uncounted in economic statistics, so their role is significantly underrepresented. Women are more acutely aware of these problems and their representation in running the economy is one way of making women’s work count. Women often suffer greater consequences from economic vagaries and it is simply undemocratic if they are not in positions that shape the economy. I think women observe the world differently from men because their lived experience often differs from that of men. Women suffer greater consequences from economic shocks, so they also have a different view of policy choices. Good decision-making in any area requires involving key stakeholders. This applies equally well, if not more, to women’s role in the economic empowerment of society.
Do you think enough South Asian women get a fair chance and opportunities to learn and pursue economics at a graduate level?
I think not. We are not particularly encouraged to learn economics, except sometimes as a way of getting a better-paid job.
There is a general underrepresentation of women in Economics and particularly in senior roles. For example, just 26% of academic economists in the UK are women. Asians seem to be doing better in aggregate numbers, with 39% of lecturers being women. But this hides a very worrying trend. Between 2012-2018 the share of Asian female professors dropped from 22 per cent to 16 per cent.
Unfortunately, I still see a very negative attitude towards women from ethnic minorities in the profession and somewhat of a backlash on efforts to address their underrepresentation. But that should not deter young women because there are many good people who are working tirelessly for this to change.
How do you make sure that your voice is heard in a room of people, especially in your field, which on the surface is male-dominated?
Good arguments, content and reasoning are essential. But in a male-dominated field, often that is not enough. I find it important, to be frank, and have the courage to say what I think.
I am of the opinion that taking on male traits to make yourself heard is not the right approach, that just perpetuates the problem. It is important, especially for young women who may be uncertain early on, that they don’t need to behave like their male counterparts to be heard. We have to make the world a better place and our own actions should reflect that.
What can we as a community do to embrace equity, especially when it comes to women and their overall upliftment in every possible way?
I think we are prejudiced as a community, even to the point of treating our own members differently based on parochial reasons. Gender is one important dimension of it. I see a lot of signs that the South Asian community in the UK has made a lot of progress compared to my parents’ and grandparents’ generations. But we still have gender stereotypes, especially around family life. These norms have to be challenged constantly because simply wishing that they will change with time would mean the biases will be around for many more generations. That is just not good enough. I hope that the tight family structures we have can in fact make the transition easier. In my own experience, I have seen that my parents’ deep caring and understanding helped us all with the transition when my choices of work and family differed from their norms.
