High-profile female economists including Kate Barker, a member of the Monetary Policy Commission for nine years, and Vicky Pryce, formerly joint head of the Government Economic Service, will be among the speakers at a Caius event for female students considering studying economics.

Vicky Pryce

The college is hosting its first Women in Economics day on 15 September 2015 to give 16-18-year-old female students from any school a chance to find out more about the subject at degree level, and to celebrate the work of female economists around the world.

Participants will have the chance to hear from current and former Cambridge economics students, who will explain why they chose to study the subject and the various career options it has opened up for them. They’ll also be able to quiz economics tutors to find out how economics is taught, and examine how the subject is reported with Sunday Telegraph economics columnist Liam Halligan.

The ground-breaking event is being led by Caius’ Director of Studies for Economics, Dr Victoria Bateman, and is inspired by similar initiatives designed to address the gender imbalance in STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and maths).

Dr Bateman, who recently called for “a sexual revolution in economics” in a Guardian article, said: “Economics shapes the lives of every single one of us - whether for the better or for the worse. However, despite the great importance of the discipline, only one in four economics students is female, meaning that not only are women losing out but so is the economy.”

The one-day event at Caius is open to all female students (whether or not they are studying economics at A-level), and will consider the economy past, present and future. Some seven years on from the global financial crisis, and with issues such as inequality regularly hitting the headlines, speakers will examine what economists have got right (and wrong) in the past and how we can create a more stable, more inclusive and more prosperous future.

For more information and details on how schools can apply, go to our website here. We have only 100 places, and they’re expected to go quickly, so please apply early.