International Women’s Day 2021 at NIESR: Patricia Sanchez Juanino

The theme for International Women’s Day (IWD) 2021 is #ChooseToChallenge, asking us to “Celebrate women’s achievement. Raise awareness against bias. Take action for equality.”.

To celebrate IWD at the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR), we are publishing a series of Q&A blogs written by women at NIESR to explore various topics to celebrate their achievements, including the challenges and barriers they have overcome. We hope these blogs raise awareness against bias and encourage us all to take action for equality.

Patricia Sanchez Juanino is responsible for the management, consistency and quality of the NiGEM database being a member of the Macroeconomic Modelling and Forecasting team. As a researcher, her interests lie mainly within the areas of international macroeconomics, monetary policy and econometric modelling. Other economic research topics of interest include environmental economics and development economies.

How long have you worked at NIESR, and what does your role involve?

I’ve been working at NIESR since July 2019. I started at NIESR with an Erasmus+ traineeship, which allowed me to do my master thesis using, and learning about, NiGEM (National Institute Global Econometric Model). After finishing my master’s degree, I was offered to join the Macroeconomic Modelling and Forecasting team as its Economic Assistant and Database Manager. I’m in charge of the NiGEM database as well as the Spanish forecast, and I’m also involved in several research projects. I’m always learning from my colleagues in each of these tasks.

What does International Women’s Day mean to you?

International Women’s Day is a brilliant opportunity to celebrate women. It is the time of year where all the headlines, discussions and trending topics are centred on women’s stories. International Women’s Day give us the chance to celebrate what women have achieved and to highlight how many things still need to be changed.

How do you succeed in a male-dominated environment?

We can take different individual actions to succeed in male-dominated workplace. First of all, we need to avoid doubting ourselves and make sure that our voices are heard. Likewise, you need to value your time and avoid pleasing other people. I tend to put others before myself, but sometimes this can be detrimental to your work and your learning process. Finally, investing in your relationships at work makes going to work a pleasure.

What advice would you give a young woman who is considering a career in economic or social research?

There is the mistaken belief that economics is mainly about money and business and is still seen as a very male-oriented job. In reality, economists work in a wide range of areas and we are influential in designing monetary, public, and social policies (among others). We touch upon all aspects of life in society and therefore the under-representation of women matters because gender diversity among economists leads to diversity of perspectives and approaches. Social sciences are a set of disciplines where you can achieve your aspirations and help to construct a better society.

How can we overcome barriers to achieving gender equality?

All the assumptions and labels made about women need to be stripped away because there’s no one way to “be a man” or “be a woman”. We need to create respectful environments where people are treated as you would like to be treated, and where everybody has the chance to grow personally and at work.