08-11-2020
Claudia Sahm holds a Ph.D. in economics and spent a decade working at the Federal Reserve Board. In an extensive blog post, she alleged the Board was a toxic environment lacking in diversity and inclusion. As an example, she asserted that only one economist out of 406 is Black. She recounted numerous examples of sexually offensive behavior by high ranking economists; some of the examples were brought to her by other economists. Sahm claimed that the men perpetrating these offensive behaviors were not expected to change their behavior and barely had to apologize.
Sahm spoke of top economists at the Board who questioned her expertise because she was a woman. She claimed that it was a common occurrence for women and that the field breaks women down, failing to protect them. According to Sahm, even a male ally at the Board did not let her know about her ability to file an EEO complaint within the agency after sharing her stories of questionable conduct.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell issued some words of support for Sahm. He stated he had not yet read her post, but he said “It’s fair to acknowledge that there’s been a lot of pain and injustice and unfair treatment that women have experienced in the workplace, not just among economists, but among economists and at the Fed.” He also stated that the Board could have and should have done more to support women. He asserted that the Board is doing more to foster a diverse workplace.