Women Chief US Economists Have Gotten Even Rarer on Wall Street
Only one primary dealer has a woman in the role, which is key to helping markets and the public make sense of current trends.
It’s lonely at the top for women economists on Wall Street. Among the nearly two dozen financial institutions designated by the Federal Reserve as primary dealers and that employ a chief US economist or equivalent, only Morgan Stanley currently has a woman, Ellen Zentner, in that job. Eighteen months ago, at least three women held such roles.
Primary dealers have prestige among financial firms, because they help the Fed implement monetary policy. One reason for the gender disparity is that the pipeline of women aspiring to be a chief economist is smaller than that for men. But other issues—from bias to balancing family with the job’s grueling travel schedule—are also at play, according to women who are or have been economists at Wall Street firms.