Dr. Surekha Rao's Bio
Surekha Rao, a Bayesian by belief and an econometrician by training, is currently Professor of Economics in the School of Business and Economics at Indiana University, Northwest. She is dedicated to searching solutions for gender wage equality, women in STEM and all-inclusive growth. She is equally passionate about promoting global diversity and international integration She has published in top class international journals like the Journal of Econometrics, International Journal of Production Economics, Economic Theory and serves on the editorial Board of Economics, Management and Social Science Journals.
She has served as economic and statistical Consultant to governmental and non -governmental organizations. Professor Rao is an invited speaker at symposia, seminars and contributor for national and local media. Professor Rao has a Masters in Economics from Delhi School of Economics, India and PhD from University of New England, Australia. She held appointments at Indian Statistical institute, Calcutta and Bangalore, India and visiting professorships at Wesleyan University, CT, Michigan Technological University, MI, University of Tulsa, OK, Wichita State University, KS, Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, and University of Napoli, Italy. Surekha Rao is the President Emerita of the Indiana Academy of the Social Sciences.
She is the recipient of numerous awards for Service to the profession, to her community and the University including the IU Bicentennial Medal. She received J. Carl Metz award for outstanding service from the Indiana Academy of the Social Sciences, National award for excellence in teaching from the National Society for Leadership and Success. She was the Corporation Day speaker at Wartburg College, Iowa and an invited speaker at the annual meeting of the American Association for Advancement of Science (AAAS). Surekha Rao is a leading India expert and other emerging economies. She has been promoting the huge business potential of the emerging economies to US and local businesses. Professor Rao has been actively supporting Indo-US economic, business and academic relations and collaboration through her teaching, research and community activities.
Steminist Blog
International Women's Day
It has been my honor to get an exclusive interview with Dr. Surekha Rao, an award-winning leader and educator in social sciences in the US dedicated to global diversity.
What challenges did you face as a woman in your field?
One of the greatest challenges that I have faced in academia is related to getting proper compensations, awards and promotions. They did not come easily, neither for me, nor for other women who showed independence or questioned the system. It is taken for granted that somehow women should be merely accepting whatever is given (offered) to them as opposed to demanding and being treated on par with their male counterparts. In my professional experience of more than four decades across continents I observed lack of sensitivity to the issue that women need the same recognition and rewards as men do for the same work. This partly stems from the fact that there is a lack of women in positions of decision making and leadership who can be mentors and advocate for other women. It is heartening to notice that there is growing awareness of this and things ae looking up. I hope that women will have more voice and more representation in every profession and in all spheres of life. I would like to call upon all for women to create more women – networks, professional groups, clubs and beer buddies (with or without beer) like the old boys’ clubs. I also understand that It is not going to be easy because women rationally take on more domestic responsibilities such as raising children, being the caregivers and managing a family. Groups like STEMinism can help break the stereotypes and bring in the change of mindset that we so badly need.
WHY is it important, from a business/economy perspective, to encourage women in Stem?
Todays economies are knowledge economies and innovation economies. The last two years of pandemic have made it crystal clear that our lives have become increasingly dependent on technology. All aspects of economy and business, production of goods and services, distribution, trade and commerce, communication, and even consumption are driven by technology. Therefore, we need skilled labor force, people who have the necessary education and training who can manage the all these processes. In the language of economics, we will say that we need human capital resources necessary to meet the demands of modern industry. Europe, china, Japan and several other countries with aging populations are facing huge labor shortages. Even with all the automations our economies need more skilled workers. Women are roughly half of the world population and can greatly ease these labor pressure by joining the labor force. In fact, several studies have shown that economies can grow faster if more women join STEM fields and be part of the STEM work force that is so badly needed for full functioning of the economy. Another reason why Women should be encouraged to join STEM because STEM jobs are high paying jobs and there is less wage gap between men and women’s wages.
'how can parents and educators contribute more to empowering women?
There are several layers of this question. Economic independence is an indisputable path to empowering women and economic independence in today’s age is all knowledge driven. It underscores the need for hundred percent literacy in the world. It should be unacceptable, even illegal that that women and girls do not have access to education. Once we all agree on providing basic literacy, the next step would be to have more national conversations how women need education that can provide for a rewarding career and financial security. Media can play a powerful role in spreading these messages like “to be a geek or nerd can be cool!”. It is to change the public perception about education, hard work and study of math which really serves as the foundation of analytical ability and critical thinking. That is where the educators can play an important role. Governments, industry and not for profit organizations must provide more funding and incentives for study of math, science and technology.
On this international women’s day let us spread the message about STEM for Girls and Women!
