Conference on Diversity and Inclusion in Economics, Finance, and Central Banking

The Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the European Central Bank are organising the third conference on “Diversity and Inclusion in Economics, Finance, and Central Banking”, to be held on Tuesday, 9 November 2021 at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. The conference will be held both in person and online. Sessions will focus primarily on issues encountered by under-represented groups in economics, finance and central banking.

Previous conferences were hosted by the Bank of England in 2018 and the European Central Bank in 2019.

European Central Bank: Gender and Career Progression, 21 October 2019 Bank of England: Gender and Career Progression, 14-15 May 2018

We invite papers drawn from a variety of methods, perspectives and disciplines and especially encourage submissions from groups which are traditionally under-represented in economics and finance. We expect most papers to take the form of academic-style research. We also welcome studies from practitioners or studies that draw on or shed light on experiences in other professions in economics, finance and central banking, or that highlight the effects of practical steps to increase diversity and inclusion.

Areas of particular interest include, but are not limited to:

• How can the fields of economics, finance and central banking better attract and retain members of under-represented groups?
• What are the obstacles to greater diversity and inclusion in these fields? What steps can be taken to overcome them, including in the light of the challenges and opportunities that have arisen during the pandemic?
• What role does diversity and inclusion play in policymaking at central banks?

Participants will be selected on the basis of papers or abstracts of about 500 words. The deadline for submissions is 30 April 2021. Authors chosen to present papers will be notified by 30 June 2021. Final drafts of the papers will be due on 1 October 2021.

The organising committee consists of staff from each of the four central banks. If you are interested in participating, please email your paper or abstract to Diversity-and-Inclusion-Conference@frb.gov (subject line: “Submission for Diversity and Inclusion Conference 2021”). Reasonable travel and accommodation expenses will be covered for academic presenters of accepted papers. We look forward to hearing from you.