: did the economics profession recruit and promote the individuals best able to bring the energy, the fresh insights, and the renewal that every field and every body of knowledge needs to remain healthy? when this question is asked again someday, when economics is tested by future challenges, i hope that our profession will be able to say that we have done all we could to attract the best people and the best ideas. that, i believe, is the very worthy goal of this conference, and i look forward to seeing it advanced by today ’ s discussions and by the continuing commitment demonstrated by the aea to diversity. thank you to those who organized the conference and to the distinguished members of our profession who have come here today to take part in it. bis central bankers ’ speeches

janet l yellen : welcoming remarks – national summit on diversity in the economics profession speech by ms janet l yellen, chair of the board of governors of the federal reserve system, at the national summit on diversity in the economics profession, washington dc, 30 october 2014. * * * i am very pleased that the american economic association ( aea ) and the federal reserve board have organized this conference on an important issue for our profession. in trying to raise awareness of diversity in the economics profession, i am aided by the fact that economists are well acquainted with the concept of diversity from their work. when conducting a survey, economists understand that the results will be more meaningful when the diversity of the sample approaches the diversity of the population being studied. in finance, we know that diversity is fundamentally important in spreading risk. history shows that economies develop and become more stable through diversification. often, in the things economists study and the methods we use, diversity is a good thing. to cite another example, research by economists and other social scientists supports the view that considering a diversity of perspectives and ideas leads to better decisions in an organization. i believe decisions by the federal reserve board and the federal open market committee are better because of the range of views and perspectives brought to the table by my fellow policymakers, and i have encouraged this approach to decisionmaking at all levels and throughout the fed system. one way to promote diversity of ideas is to promote diversity among the people we rely on for those ideas, including more than 300 ph. d. economists who serve at the board and more than 400 serving at the fed ’ s 12 reserve banks. at the board, our office of diversity and inclusion coordinates this effort, but everyone involved in the recruiting, hiring, management, and promotion of economists is engaged in it as well. when i was vice chair, i knew that promoting diversity among fed economists was a priority for chairman bernanke, and it continues to be a priority for me. in 1977, when i joined the board staff, i was one of relatively few women economists here. since then, there have been significant gains in diversity at the board and throughout the system. the federal reserve is committed to achieving further progress, and to better understanding the challenges to improving diversity throughout the economics profession. as an employer, the fed is very serious about meeting its obligation to provide equal opportunity, and i also believe that diversity makes the fed more effective in carrying out its mission, for reasons such as the one i mentioned