Women and Research According to Annamaria Lusardi: Tenacity Is the Key

A BOCCONI ALUMNA, SHE'S AN ECONOMIST AT THE GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF BUSINESS WHERE SHE FOCUSES ON FINANCIAL LITERACY

She created something that hadn’t previously existed – financial literacy – and brought it to the attention of the U.S. government, for whom she became a consultant. This is how Annamaria Lusardi - who graduated from Bocconi in 1986 and got a PhD from Princeton - managed to elevate a field of economics which now increasingly involves citizens “when they are called to express their opinions on economic-financial reforms through voting, and also when making personal decisions about their own future”. At Dartmouth College she founded a financial literacy research center, and in transferring that experience to the George Washington University School of Business she created the Global Financial Literacy Excellence Center (GFLEC). Determined, engaging, and certain of her work’s merit, Lusardi has been recognized by the New York Times as one of the six most influential economists in the world.
 
What is women’s role in research?
Thirty years have passed since I started my academic career, and yet the situation hasn’t changed very much: too often, the jobs at the top are still occupied by men. It’s a daily battle for me and my female colleagues, because you have to be very aggressive and be able to manage a variety of tasks at the same time: conduct research, manage groups, do fundraising, and compete with men.
 
Do women and men approach research differently?
I think so. I think I became fascinated with financial literacy because I’m a woman: there are more female researchers in this field as compared to other economic areas, perhaps because it has been considered a lesser topic. But I am here to show that that’s not the case. Financial literacy is also connected to education, a typically female sector.
 
What advice can you give to young women who are thinking about a research career?
To answer your question, I’ll take inspiration from Rita Levi Montalcini: you need to be extremely persistent in research. In general, people think that you have to be very intelligent if you want to do research, but this is not enough: motivation and tenacity are fundamental. Sometimes good ideas occur in special circumstances, and it’s important to know how to follow through on those ideas and trust yourself. This has really helped me.
 
And when you lose that trust?
When faced with an obstacle, you just close your eyes and move forward. Research is quite complicated because often you don’t get immediate results, and you have to deal with long periods of darkness. So you see, you need to be patient and tackle obstacles one at a time. And tackle them all.
 
Who is the protagonist: the researcher, or the research?
I believe it’s the researcher, because research needs to be guided with a lot of patience. Sometimes things don’t work, and so researchers need the fortitude to handle failure: it’s kind of like being an entrepreneur.
 
Has your experience always been positive?
At the beginning, it felt insurmountable: nobody was interested in the work I was doing, and many colleagues suggested that I deal with subjects considered to be more significant. To this day I can still remember the confused looks on people’s faces as I spoke.  That experience helped me understand that you have to be courageous if you want to do research. I learned that I have that courage.
 
You certainly have had the courage to persevere. How did you find the energy to go against everyone?
A passion for data, not just theory: this interest came about thanks to my work with Angus Deaton, who was my advisor at Princeton.
 
You are considered to be one of the most influential economists in the world: what are the advantages and disadvantages of that?
One of the advantages is definitely the satisfaction of being able to see my work applied, and be able to influence the debate: our research is part of the change occurring in the world.
 
You just mentioned the advantages…
Yes. The disadvantage is one that I share with all women, because it’s about the fact that there are so few women in the academic world. And that makes the life of a female researcher more complicated.


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If Gyro Gearloose were a woman…
Simona Botti, academia as a creative enterprise
Alessandra Casella: experimentation and voting theory
Magdalena, at home in five countries
Francesca, the first female full professor at the London Business School
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Paola, a Bocconi degree and lots of recognition
Gaia’s research: making an impact in developing countries
Agnieszka Tymula: neuroeconomics, and an interdisciplinary approach to research

by Allegra Gallizia