Katharina Erhardt, Professor of Economic Policy, in particular Trade and Competition Policy, was elected Chairwoman of the Women Economists Network of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Protection (BMWK) on April 24, 2024. The network was founded on April 24, 2024 with a ceremony in Berlin, which was also attended by Minister Habeck.
According to Minister Habeck, the network is intended to supplement existing and proven advisory bodies and create additional opportunities for low-threshold and agile policy advice. The ministry is also keen to make female economists more visible in political consulting in order to utilize the potential of scientific expertise. This is because women are still underrepresented in economic advice.
The network currently consists of 17 female academics with proven expertise who work in the field of economics as university lecturers or junior professors. The various disciplines of economics have been taken into account in the composition of the network. The number of members is limited to a maximum of 20.