Rhonda Vonshay Sharpe
Rhonda Vonshay Sharpe is an economist and mathematician who analyzes large datasets to find the stories hidden in the aggregate. Her research shows that by disaggregating data, we can identify the nuances in outcomes that can improve economic well-being. Rhonda is the President and Founder of the Women’s Institute for Science, Equity and Race.
She is the co-editor of the Review of Black Political Economy and has served as President of the National Economic Association (2017). She was named a Black Scholar You Should Know by TheBestSchools.org and BlackEnterprise.com
Rhonda’s areas of expertise include: gender and racial inequality, the diversity of STEM, and the demography of higher education. Her recent publications include: “The quest for inclusion in economics in the U.S.: Fifty years of slow progress,”
“Disaggregating Data Will Bring Justice for All,”“Does race in the USA constrain the economics knowledge production function?”, “Did North Carolina Economically Breed-Out Blacks During its Historical Eugenic Sterilization Campaign?”, “Black women economists: At the intersection of race and gender,” “Category Error,” “Disaggregating data by race allows for more accurate research,” “Poverty in Global Perspective,” and “HBCUs: Creating a Scientific Workforce Outta 15 Cents” in Setting a New Agenda for Student Engagement and Retention in Historically Black Colleges and Universities. which she has written about extensively.
Her research has been featured on the PBS News Hour, Marketplace, Kerri Miller Show, the New York Times, The Economist, and The Washington Post. She is a recurring guest on the BBC’s Business Matters and an opinion contributor to Bloomberg.com.
Her commitment to creating inclusive spaces has been recognized with mentoring awards from American Economic Association Mentoring Program and the Sadie Collective. She received the 2021 Most Impactful Adjunct Faculty Award, L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University. She is the co-founder of the Diversity Initiative for Tenure in Economics (DITE), Founder and Director of the Inclusive Peer Onsite Distance (IPOD) Mentoring Program, and Assistant Director of the American Economic Association Summer Minority Training Program (AEASMP).
Sharpe holds a B.S. in mathematics from North Carolina Wesleyan College; master’s degrees from Clark Atlanta University (applied mathematics), Stanford University (operations research), and Claremont Graduate University (economics). She completed her doctorate in economics/mathematics at Claremont Graduate University