Women are Active Economic Agents

Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Barbados, Michelle Doyle, has highlighted the role of women as active economic agents whose perspectives must be heard.

Speaking to staff during a pre-International Women’s Day session on Thursday, entitled “Women in Economics: Breaking Barriers,” she underscored the significant value of women’s contributions at the household level, through entrepreneurship, and in economic leadership.

“When you think of economics as defined, and you’re talking about decisions related to the allocation of scarce resources, creating utility, and leveraging constraints, whether it be time, money, or anything else, really and truly, for most of us, our mothers, our aunties, and our grannies did that on a daily basis and continue to do it,” she said.

Doyle noted that in the Caribbean, there are three men for every woman majoring in Economics. Furthermore, only 13 percent of central banks are headed by women, and in the history of the Nobel Prize in Economics, only three of 96 laureates have been women.

Doyle said diversity must be represented in boardrooms.

“Where most monetary authorities – even our own Central Bank – may only have one or two females in the room at the table, you need to value the diversity of thought and perspective in terms of informing decisions. That is based on the fact that we are all contributing from differing perspectives, but contributing all the same.” 

Doyle stressed that exposure to successful women in economics who are breaking the glass ceiling can be transformative, noting that interactions with female economists who have excelled in research and female central bank governors in the region and beyond have inspired many young women, including herself.

“What it underscored was the fact that talent in itself, hard work, and dedication in how you choose to show up cannot be minimised in any form,” the deputy governor said, as she emphasized the need to mentor young female professionals. 

She acknowledged that professional success often comes with challenges.

“I’m not going to minimise the challenge of the work-life balance that we all have to strike, not just in economics but in any profession. And part of that is really driven by some of the social factors that contribute to who we are as a people and how we’re seen as mothers, caregivers, and providers, and how that impacts our psyche,” she said.

Doyle noted that there were some occasions when she missed her daughters’ activities and felt guilty.

“At the same time, it emphasised for me the importance of prioritising what’s important: having quality time with them at key points, as well as realising that I had to give priority to my own spiritual rejuvenation and to carve out time for myself as an individual.”