Increasing Diversity in Seminars, Panels, Conferences, and Media
The Committee on Women in Agricultural Economics (CWAE) strongly encourages organizers of seminars, panel discussions, and conferences, as well as those in media and policy organizations to seek out diverse voices. To assist in this, we are creating a database of areas of expertise and availability for engagements.
Women and historically underrepresented minorities are invited to complete this Google form to add their information. The complete database can be accessed here.
Nominations
Identify women to nominate for AAEA awards and honors, including Fellows, and coordinate nomination efforts with unit heads and other supporters; develop templates and best practices for compiling nomination packets; draft support letter on behalf of CWAE, focusing on contributions to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Committee: Sathya Gopalakrishnan and Anna Josephson
Social Media
In November 2025, CWAE opened a LinkedIn account. CWAE uses its social media account to advertise its webinar series and events at the annual meeting, promote women and underrepresented minority economists on the job market, and provide other resources relevant to women in our profession.
Committee: Kelly Grogan, Yanjie Yang, Mackenzie Gill, Myat Win, Andisheh Riahi, Mengshan Zhao, Sampriti Sarkar, Omowunmi Odeyomi, Olusola Adegbuyiro
Other Activities
Virtual Program Committee: Shellye Suttles, Kate Schneider Lecy, Jamille Lasanta, Gaby Quesada Perez, Anthony Ponce, Anna Josephson, Tori Laird
Fundraising Committee: Jerrod Penn, Andisheh Riahi, Kate Schneider, Jamille Lasanta, Deepthi Kolady
Past Initiatives
Diversity and Culture Survey
The missions of the Committee on Women in Agricultural Economics (CWAE) and the Committee on the Status of Black Agricultural Economists (COSBAE) includes monitoring the positions of women and underrepresented minorities in the profession and undertaking professional activities to improve those positions. Since 1972, the American Economic Association (AEA) has charged the Committee on the Status of Women in the Economics Profession (CSWEP) to conduct an analysis of data on the gender composition of faculty and students in U.S. economics departments. We seek to create a similar set of data for the agricultural and applied economics profession, while considering broader metrics of diversity.
Committee: Anna Josephson (Chair), Simanti Banerjee, Lurleen Walters, Leah H. Palm-Forster, and Kate Schneider
Building the Pipeline
Continuing Engagement and Collaboration of 1994, 1890, 1862, Federal and Private Sector Institutions: Building the Pipeline from Undergraduate to Graduate Training
Program Committee: Victoria Salin (Chair), Joyce Chen, Deepthi Kolady, and Kate Fuller
The Committee on Women in Agricultural Economics and the Committee on the Opportunities and Status of Blacks in Agricultural Economics are pleased to launch this mentoring program with support from the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association Trust. This program supplements existing COSBAE-CWAE mentoring activities through the creation of a mentoring program for undergraduate students from historically under-represented groups who are interested in graduate education and research. This program develops and strengthens relationships between 1994, 1890 and 1862 institutions, and federal government agencies as well as key private sector employers, with the aim of creating new mentoring networks for undergraduate students from historically under-represented groups. These connections will assist them with continuing on to graduate education and research. We will work with undergraduates early on in their schooling (rising juniors and seniors), in order to provide research experience as well as guidance on preparing applications for graduate school. This addresses the early stages of the pipeline, to complement existing COSBAE-CWAE mentoring activities that address the early career stage.
Valuing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Contributions in AAEA Awards and Fellowship Applications
Prepared by Kate Fuller and Deepthi Kolady, on behalf of the CWAE Nominations Sub-Committee.
From the AAEA’s Executive Board Statement in June 2020:
“As an organization, our responsibility is to remain a platform for rigorous research on a breadth of societal issues, engaged public discourse across a diverse set of stakeholders, and to inform discussions and policies that can help refine and strengthen the frayed social fabric. Science is stronger when it can grow from a diverse set of experiences. To be truly inclusive, we must move beyond steps taken in the past to improve the culture and climate of our association and escalate our efforts to create a different future for underrepresented minorities, women, and others historically marginalized in our profession and in society…Let us pledge ourselves to these principles and rededicate ourselves to the mission of striving toward a just society that needs engaged, empathetic, and intelligent education, science-based and community-driven research, and engaged scholars more than ever.”
CWAE and COSBAE commend the AAEA Executive Board for this statement and offer this proposal as one tool toward achieving the “mission of striving toward a just society.” Ongoing work across academia, industry, and government has demonstrated that diversity, equity and inclusion remain undervalued by our institutions, unless we create structures to value it. Awards are a major way we place value on the people in our profession and the work they do. The idea behind this document is to give some structure to valuing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) contributions in AAEA’s awards systems, and to support efforts to value DEI contributions throughout our profession.
What follows are not definitive prescriptions, specific rubrics, nor exhaustive lists but instead, several examples for each category. (Several groups and institutions have created such rubrics; examples are listed at the end of this document.) AAEA awards fall into four main categories: Research, Teaching, Extension, and Mentoring, as well as awarding Fellowship. This document is structured around those award types. However, several examples of DEI contributions bridge all award types:
DEI Contribution Examples Common to All Award Types
- Contributor viewed as a role model in diversity, equity and inclusion work by their peers, colleagues, mentees, students or others
- Demonstrated positive impact on students, peers, stakeholders, clients, employer culture, and/or the profession through efforts to catalyze change in diversity, equity, and inclusion
- Public advancement and prioritization of diversity, equity and inclusion within their workplace and/or the profession
- Advocating for policy that brings resources and actions to address systemic inequalities
DEI Contributions in Research Awards
- Research on topics such as disparities in outcomes or discrimination
- Use of inclusive research methods such as community-based participatory research
- Providing research capacity building or training to colleagues from marginalized populations
DEI Contributions in Teaching Awards
- Integrating DEI topics into existing courses or creating courses on DEI topics
- Work that increases accessibility of coursework, courses, or other methods of teaching for students from marginalized populations
- Using, developing, or promoting inclusive teaching methods and curricula
- Extensive work with students from marginalized populations (e.g. mentoring students from marginalized populations, advising/mentoring student groups)
- Contributor represents a marginalized population or populations
DEI Contributions in Extension Awards
- Work that increases accessibility of extension programming for stakeholders from marginalized populations
- Programming that promotes diversity, equity and inclusion through education and experience
- Programming designed to meet needs of stakeholders from marginalized populations
- Contributor represents a marginalized population or populations
DEI Contributions in Mentoring Awards
- Leading, creating, serving in, or promoting DEI mentorship programs
- Working to make mentorship programs more accessible to those from marginalized populations for those in academia, industry, and government
- Supporting individuals from marginalized populations in a systematic, but informal way, such as through nominations for awards, mentoring outside of mentorship programs, being available as a resource for career advice and professional guidance