The Women in Economics Club (or WIE, for short) is made up of women with a mission. These are undergraduate Economics majors who love the subject matter of Economics and are surprised that their Economics classes are majority male. (Here at Carolina, as is true nationwide, men make up a larger percentage of Economics majors.)
The Carolina women have taken this as a challenge – and their response is WIE. Its vision is to
- promote an inclusive community among students of economics,
- provide women students of economics with resources and opportunities for academic and career development, and
- advocate for gender equality in economics and on campus more generally.
Natalie Gallo is the president of WIE this academic year, and Professor Kalina Staub is the faculty advisor to the club. They currently have over 200 women – and men – who have expressed an interest in their activities.
The leaders of WIE recognize that a great way to achieve this vision is to demonstrate to Economics majors, and those considering Economics as a major, that there are many well-defined career paths for women economists. On September 20 this year they invited five women graduates of UNC Economics to speak in a careers panel. Those speakers included
- Sarah Bass, Elizabeth Brown and Audra Goldstein, all economists at Research Triangle Institute
- Professor Kristin Wilson of the Kenan-Flagler Business School
- Paulina Powierza, graduate student in the Masters in Accounting Program at Carolina
- Christina Benson, formerly of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in Washington DC
- Carly Collette, pilot in the Air Force Reserve
In this photo you’ll find the leaders of WIE: Natalie, Laura Hill (Director of Logistics), Professor Staub, Lauren Siegel (Director of Marketing), and Reilly Gallagher (Director of Finance). Not pictured is Sarah Parker (Director of Membership). You can contact them at wieunc@gmail.com.