Women in Economics Highly Commended at the Excellence in Gender Equality Awards

Two teams from Warwick Economics have been Highly Commended in the recent university-wide Excellence in Gender Equality AwardsLink opens in a new window.  

The Awards Link opens in a new windowwere created by the Athena Swan Self-Assessment Team and the Gender Taskforce to acknowledge commitment to equality, diversity, inclusion and sharing best practice. This year entries were judged by University Provost Professor Chris Ennew, the Chairs of Faculty, and Kulbir Shergill, Director of Social Inclusion.

The two Economics teams recognised for excellence in working towards gender equality were Dr Stefania Paredes Fuentes and the ‘Women in Economics: A Student Workshop’ Team; and the ‘Warwick Women in Economics International Women's Day Conference’ Team.  

The Women in Economics Student WorkshopLink opens in a new window was co-ordinated by Dr Stefania Paredes-Fuentes and a group of undergraduate students with the goal of hearing the student perspective on the debate on female under-representation in the discipline. During the two day event, students from 12 universities gathered in Warwick to present their ideas and to discuss the issues around the lack of diversity in the discipline. Outcomes from the workshop have included the ‘Economics for All’ guide with 7 Action Points to promote diversity in Economics, and the foundation of the Warwick Women in EconomicsLink opens in a new window (WWiE) society.  

The judges said that the Workshop “was a great initiative and event, which definitely demonstrated sharing good practice and meeting of the criteria for commitment to gender equality (and wider inclusivity) and delivering on a specific project.” 

The second Highly Commended Economics team was the 15-strong student team behind the 2022 WWiE International Women's Day conferenceLink opens in a new window. The IWD event was the society’s first in-person conference and attracted more than 80 attendees and 100 online participants. The aim of the day was to raise awareness of the different career paths available for female economics graduates.  

Milena Ermolenko, the society’s Vice-President, said “It was a huge achievement for the team to organise our society’s first large-scale in-person event and the high attendance confirms its success. The conference offered economics students a platform to raise their voice, ask questions about their degree, and become more curious about their future career prospects.  

“We are delighted that WWiE has been recognised for our contribution to equality, diversity and inclusion, and our commitment to building more inclusive environments and experiences through everyday behaviours at the University of Warwick.  

“The judges described our International Women’s Day Conference 2022 as ‘a successful and well-attended event.’ We intend to make it bigger and better in spring 2023.”