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,”

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 “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

  • The Strait Is Open, but My Wallet Is Empty April 8, 2026 - Yesterday, President Trump announced a two‑week ceasefire with Iran, along with a conditional reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. If you are like me, you have been wondering why the closure of the Strait of Hormuz has caused an increase in oil prices. It turns out that about 20 percent of the world’s traded oil travels through this strait. So, ...
  • Liberation Day Tariffs April 3, 2026 - April 2, 2026, marks one year since Liberation Day — the executive order imposing reciprocal tariffs on goods imported from most U.S. trading partners. For millions of Americans with no savings in their monthly budgets, it is a price increase they did not choose and cannot absorb. What Has Already Been Said — And What It Misses Over the past year, much ...
  • Liberation Day for Whom? April 2, 2026 - Tomorrow, April 2, 2026, marks one year since Liberation Day — the executive order imposing reciprocal tariffs on goods imported from most U.S. trading partners. For millions of Americans with no savings in their monthly budgets, it is a price increase they did not choose and cannot absorb. What Has Already Been Said — And What It Misses Over the ...
  • When Numbers Don’t Add Up, Literally September 3, 2025 - The recent upheaval at the Federal Reserve—with Governor Adriana Kugler’s early resignation in August and the controversial attempted firing of Governor Lisa Cook—represents more than just political turbulence at our nation’s central bank.  It signals a troubling retreat from gender-focused economic research precisely when accurate data interpretation has never been more critical. This timing is particularly concerning given persistent inaccuracies ...
  • Why Every Agency Must Follow Education’s Lead August 22, 2025 - More than a week has passed since U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon directed the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) to collect disaggregated admissions data from universities—specifically to detect potential race discrimination and ensure compliance with the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard. While the August 7 directive focuses on rooting out illegal racial ...
  • I am my keeper August 3, 2025 - On September 29, 2017, Kate Bahn convened women economists to discuss the “Economics of Misogyny.” I was asked to be on the “Bodily Autonomy” panel and charged to discuss reproductive justice.  Bodily autonomy is not discussed in economics but aligns closely with some economic thinking, such as Amartya Sen’s capabilities approach.  The concept was developed to address the needs of ...
  • Who you calling a senior August 3, 2025 - I have been traveling across the country conducting information sessions on college campuses about the American Economic Association Summer Training Program.  My travels allowed me to meet a cadre of students and economics faculty.  It also allowed me to listen to NPR – intentionally, not just as background noise.   An episode of 1A on seniors in poverty caught my ...
  • Unbiased Technology and Research August 3, 2025 - This week, Google turns 25.  How many of you remember the Mosaic web browser, Yahoo and Ask Jeeves search engines, or Pine email?  I remember my peers knew about all the cool things happening on Stanford’s campus, and I didn’t. When I asked how they knew, they said email.  My response was, I am not doing email.  Their response, then you won’t know ...
  • A Reminder to celebrate small wins August 2, 2025 - Today on 1A, the guests discussed K-12 education concerns and the proposed budget.  With all the focus on cuts to higher education research funding, I was surprised to learn that the FY 2026 Budget Request did not propose cuts to Title I or the Individual Disability Education Act (IDEA). Title I was created in 1965 as part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) as ...
  • A Womb’s Worth January 10, 2024 - When I heard Pope Francis called for the banning of surrogacy worldwide, I sighed. The state of surrogacy Surrogacy is not legal in Louisiana and Michigan (See Graph 1.)  The legality of surrogacy focuses primarily on the payment to the surrogate and parentage.  Lauen Danelowski examines the literature on reproductive labor.   She posits that if surrogacy were viewed as “work,” surrogates would ...