Economics is a social science concerned with the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. It studies how individuals, businesses, governments, and nations make choices about how to allocate resources. Allocation of resources for national prosperity and growth sets a foundation for the nation's success (Hayes, 2020). Ethos like rugged individualism and ironically, pulling yourself up by your bootstraps, which is of course impossible, serve to enforce a myth of meritocracy that allows for judegment to be cast for those who do not fit the societal perception of “success,” and make it harder to identify the ways in which this myth is harmful to individuals and the larger society. When only some of a nation’s population are economically secure, the entirety of the nation and its future is at risk.
The United States has a particular problem with income inequality and the ways in which economists address these matters. In most fields of study, disaggregation, the breaking down of differing variables of data, is needed in order to see patterns often masked by aggregate data. Traditionally, the focus of economic measures has been on aggregate success/failure of the economy, but when you disaggregate you get to see a clearer picture of who is economically successful and comfortable and who is not. Disaggregation shows that economic prosperity and hardship falls down racial lines. Using this data to create economic policy is where the most economic impact can happen if programs are then targeted based on the data. Typically, neoliberal approaches seem to still permeate the field of economics. The notion that“a rising tide lifts all boats,” has not proven to be the case. Inequities of employment, income, and wealth persist for Black Americans no matter their educational attainment. In, How Economic Assumptions Uphold Racist Systems, Gamble (2020) writes, “Even if economic growth lifts all baseline living standards, persistent inequity, even at a higher standard, is still unjust”(Gamble, 2020). According to Gamble, there is a need to interrogate assumptions made about economic research and pedagogy in order to address racial wealth disparities, specifically:
●The assumption that value equals price. Taking the example of essential workers under Covid-19 times. While classified as such, they are often underpaid by comparison and predominantly made up of people of color. Market power of employers, outdated labor standards. and lack of union organizing all contribute to this. As a result, “the wealth gap between Black and white families is as wide now as it was in 1968. And extreme wealth, which is overwhelmingly white,has increasingly more control over political agendas as inequality increases.”
●The assumption that behavior represents the independent and rational preferences of individuals. This assumption does not sufficiently consider history, power and institutions in the shaping of behavior (Gamble, 2020).
These lived understandings of economics and the ways in which inequality plays out are missing in the neoliberal approach. Economists Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman and Fanta Traore wanted to know the percentage of Black women in the field. What they found is that it has been declining since 1995 and there are very few, 4% of all Economics BAs and 0.5% of all PhDs are earned by Black women. There is only 1 Black woman economist at the federal reserve out of a total of 409 economists, which raises questions regarding economic and fiscal policy making(Weingarten, 2020). This lack of representation prompted Opoku-Agyeman and Traore to form The Sadie Collective, an organization which works to get more Black women into economics related fields by illuminating the many roadblocks they face and attempting to remove those barriers. They cite structural racism in the field as the reason the discipline is so white. A future with more economists of color will have major implications on the lives of Black and Brown people. These future economists will be part of the financial decision making and have a voice and role regarding future fiscal policies. In the past, this has not been the case, and recessions have hurt marginalized communities at a significantly greater rate. By placing Black women in positions of prevalence and authority, our society begins to allow for representation of voices that are typically left out of economic policy discussions (Weingarten, 2020).
A White Paper was created by The Sadie Collective to address the need to diversify the field. This white paper addresses how to use financial commitments from high profile corporations and the newfound awareness of the racial inequity to upend systemic racism and improve access for underrepresented groups. Education statistics show that Black women in particular are underrepresented in the fields of math, economics, accounting and finance.There must be a commitment to cultivate a pipeline for Black women that begins earlier than their college careers to expose them to opportunities in these fields and support them along the way (The Sadie Collective, 2020). As there are few Black women majoring in these fields, in turn, there are few of them working in the corresponding professions. The global pandemic disproportionately hurt Black women who now sit at over 12% unemployment rate, much higher than the national average(Weingarten, 2020). Add on structural racism being evidenced lately by police killings of Black women further disadvantages them. The corporate world is at acritical juncture as it seeks to find ways to bring Black women into the field.The paper cites specific barriers to Black women’s entry into the field:
● Access to Information
● Discrimination in the Field
● Lack of role models
The Sadie Collection is a valuable resource for changing this. They offer a network of over 1000 Black women and allies in the field, offer mentorship, host conferences and create and partner on other vital outreach measures.
They offer two key ways to address the pipeline problem:
● Adopting the Black Women Best Framework
● Allocating Annual Funding for Black Women Led Initiatives That Support The Pipeline
The corporate world is at a turning point along with much of the nation and The Sadie Collective seeks to center Black women as a part of the change (The Sadie Collective, 2020).
