Published three times annually by the American Economic Association’s Committee on the Status of Women news in the Economics Profession. SUMME R 2014 IN THIScswe ISSUE An Interview with P Kathryn Graddy Feature Section Rachel McCulloch Getting into and Finishing a PhD Program Rachel McCulloch is the Rosen Family commitment to the field of international Introduction by Serena Ng . 3 Professor Emerita of International Fi- trade are impressive: She has published Considering Graduate Education in nance at Brandeis University . She over 100 papers and commentaries, she Economics? A Few Things to Ponder has contributed more than for- has been an NBER research associate by Wendy A . Stock . 3 ty years of teaching, scholar- and a consultant to the World Bank Preparation for Research in Graduate ship, and service to the eco- and Asian Development Bank and School by Susan Elmes . 5 nomics profession while a she has held numerous short- Getting Admitted to a PhD Program: faculty member at the Uni- term positions ranging from What Does it Take? versity of Chicago, Harvard Visiting Scholar at the Hoover by John Bound . 7 University, the University Institution at Stanford Universi- Views from the Trenches: What of Wisconsin and Brandeis ty to member of the U S. Current Economics Graduate University . Professor Presidential Commis- Students Say . 9 McCulloch has been sion on Industrial an example to wom- Competitiveness . en economists since Professor Mc- CSWEP Reports a time when there Culloch’s prolif- Chair’s Letter were few women in ic service has in- by Marjorie B . McElroy . 2 the profession . Her cluded frequent Reflections on the MEG 2013 scholarship and appointments as Mentoring Workshop for Junior 2013 Carolyn Shaw Bell Award continues on page 14 Female Economists by Yoosoon Winner Rachel McCulloch Chang . .1, 12 Matching Markets in Action: Speed Mentoring in Washington, DC by Reflections on the MEG 2013 Mentoring Susan Fleck . 11. Workshop for Junior Female Economists Tributes & Commendations Interview with Rachel McCulloch Yoosoon Chang by Kathryn Graddy . .1, 14 Last year was Indiana University’s turn applied, empirical or theoretical econo- In Memory of Suzanne Scotchmer to host the Annual Meeting of Midwest metrics research in all fields of eco- by Marjorie B . McElroy . 13. Econometrics Group (MEG), and I was nomics . This was the first time such a In Gratitude . 11, 12 asked to serve as the organizer . To give mentoring workshop has been offered a little bit of a fresh spark to this 23-year- at the MEG meetings . The mentoring Calls & Announcements old friendly neighborhood conference, I workshop was unique in that it tried wanted to try something new . That de- out a new format of mentoring exclu- Bell Award . 16 sire resulted in a pre-conference men- sive to female junior economists—the Bennett Prize . 16 toring workshop for a broadly defined group in greatest need of such support . CeMENT 2015 . 16 group of young female econometri- I am happy to report that the new for- Joan Haworth Mentoring Fund 16 cians, including female juniors doing mat of mentoring was well received by 2014 WEIA Sessions . 16 continues on page 12 Free Digital Subscriptions @ CSWEP.org Forward the CSWEP News to colleagues and graduate students. About the Authors Marjorie From the Chair McElroy John Bound is the George E . Johnson Collegiate Professor of Economics and Senior Research Scientist at the From its inception, CSWEP has worked to promote the repre- Population Studies Center at the Uni- sentation and success of women in the economics profession, versity of Michigan and a Faculty Re- and many past issues of the CSWEP News have proffered ad- search Associate at NBER . vice to graduate students and junior women . Following up on last summer’s focus on the lack of women in the under- Yoosoon Chang is a Professor of Eco- graduate major, this current issue proffers advice to under- nomics at Indiana University . graduates . Edited by Board member Serena Ng, “Choosing and Finishing a PhD Program” covers every aspect promised in the title – from whether a PhD is right for you, to preparing Susan Elmes is a for, selecting and applying to PhD programs, and to succeed- Senior Lecturer ing in your program as well as what to expect upon gradua- in Discipline, De- tion . My favorite section, with contributions from anonymous partment of Eco- PhD students, brilliantly captures the salient aspects of life as nomics, Colum- a PhD student . I urge you to share this issue with your un- bia University . dergraduate majors and your colleagues who advise them . As usual your CSWEP Board has been hard at work on on- Susan Fleck is a going activities with some exciting new initiatives in the off- Senior Economist ing . Plans are underway for CSWEP Events at the 2015 ASSA/ at the Immigrant Investor Program AEA Meeting in Boston, MA, including three paper sessions of the U S. Citizenship and Immigra- on gender topics and three on macro/international econom- tion Service . ics and enhanced versions of the two mornings of the highly successful Mentoring Breakfasts for Junior Economists . In Kathryn Graddy is the works is a new third mentoring event for mid-career econ- the Fred and Rita omists . Look for details in the next issue of the CSWEP News . Richman Distin- If your career as well of those of other women has ben- guished Professor in Economics and efitted from the outstanding mentoring or public service the Chair of the Department of Eco- of an economist or if you have a junior colleague who has nomics at Brandeis University . made fundamental contributions to research in economics, now is the time to begin thinking about nominating them for CSWEP’s Bell Award or Bennett Prize . Nominations are Marjorie McElroy is a Professor of officially open for both awards, with materials due in late Economics at Duke University and September . See: http://www.aeaweb.org/committees/cswep/ Chair of the CSWEP Board . awards/ . The 2014 awards will be presented at CSWEP’s Business Meeting held during the 2015 ASSA/AEA Meeting . Serena Ng is a I enthusiastically welcome Ragan Petrie of George Mason Professor of Eco- University to the Board as our Southern Representative . Ra- nomics at Co- gan has already organized an outstanding professional devel- lumbia Universi- opment session and a paper session for CSWEP at the 2014 ty and a CSWEP SEA and has embraced other committee assignments as well . Board Member . Finally, CSWEP wants to hear from you . Send announce- ments about your career, feedback on CSWEP activities and ideas for the future to [email protected] . Wendy A. Stock is a Professor of Economics and the Head of the De- partment of Agricultural Econom- What is CSWEP? ics and Economics at Montana State CSWEP (the Committee on the Status of Women in the Economics Pro- University . fession) is a standing committee of the American Economic Association charged with serving professional women economists in academia, govern- ment agencies and elsewhere by promoting their careers and monitoring their progress. Visit cswep.org for more information. 2 CSWEP NEWS Getting into and Finishing Serena Ng a PhD Program In the fall semester of every year, senior schooling is . The decision is also not doctoral admissions in the Department undergraduates agonize over whether easy for graduate programs, which have of Economics at the University of Michi- to attend graduate school . Unlike oth- to decide who amongst the many appli- gan, provides a perspective on what er disciplines, the traditional path in cants to admit . PhD programs are looking for in appli- economics is entry to a PhD program In this issue, four parties share their cants and advice on navigating the ad- without first getting an MA (though it experiences and advice regarding PhD missions process . Last but not least, we is worth noting that some departments programs . Wendy Stock, head of the hear from current graduate students now offer MA programs designed to Department of Agricultural Economics themselves about the some of the chal- prepare students for PhD entry) . Stu- and Economics at Montana State Uni- lenges they have faced and how a PhD dents must ask, is a PhD program right versity, gives an overview of PhD pro- program is different from undergradu- for them? How can they best prepare grams that will be useful for anyone ate studies . for graduate studies? Should they work contemplating a PhD . Susan Elmes, the This set of articles will be valuable first? Even after they decide to pursue a director of undergraduate studies in the to anyone considering whether to get PhD, they struggle over which program Department of Economics at Columbia a PhD in economics . I look forward to best suits their preferences and abilities . University, discusses how students can many readers of these articles joining This is not an easy decision because stu- prepare to meet graduate program’s re- the profession in a few years with their dents must make a commitment of four search expectations and determine if PhD in hand . years—if not more—without full knowl- they are likely to find graduate school edge of what the return to graduate to be a good fit . John Bound, director of Wendy A. Stock Considering Graduate Education in Economics? A Few Things to Ponder Over the past fifteen years, John Sieg- in the makeup of economics PhD stu- prior graduate degree, while 60 percent fried and I, along with co-authors Al dents over the past decades . While the of non-U .S . citizens in this entering co- Finegan and Lee Hansen, have studied number of economics PhDs awarded by hort had this educational background .