WAMIE Founders

"I wanted to start WAMIE because diversity in any academic discipline is vital to the accumulation of knowledge. Different people ask different questions depending on their life experiences, and nowhere is that diversity of perspective more critical than within the field of economics, where inequality, economic well-being, and government policy are of central importance. As a woman in a male-dominated field, I also have benefitted tremendously from the encouragement, friendship and sisterhood of my female colleagues, and I would like to provide that same support to budding economists from all underrepresented groups" - Kate Antonovics, Acting Provost of Revelle College (Photo by Erika Johnson/UC San Diego Publications)

"When I went to graduate school in 1983, there were 2 other women in my PhD class at the University of Washington. One of them became my best friend and her constant support throughout graduate school was incredibly valuable to me. Unfortunately, the underrepresentation of women and minorities in the economics profession continues to this day. Fortunately, at UC San Diego a substantially larger fraction of our nearly 2,500 undergraduate economics majors are from underrepresented groups - 42.5% are women (students who report gender identities as female or trans-female are reported here as women; students who report gender identities as male or trans-male are reported as men. Students who report gender identities as genderqueer/gender non-conforming or different identity are reported according to sex at birth: females reported as women; males reported as men), and 10.5% are underrepresented minorities (any student whose self-reported ethnicity was Black/African-American, Latin American/Latino, Mexican/Mexican American/Chicano, or American Indian/Alaska Native). UC San Diego has enough women and minority undergraduates studying economics to make a difference in the demographics of graduate schools and companies, and I want to make sure our students have the information and support system to help them succeed. I wanted to start WAMIE to give students a community to share experiences, ideas, and opportunities with one another, so together we can increase access to great jobs and graduate schools for our women and minority candidates." - Melissa Famulari, VC of Undergraduate Studies and Instruction (Photo by Erika Johnson/UC San Diego Publications)