Engaging with secondary schools is one of the keys to addressing the gender problem in Economics. There are huge misconceptions by people outside the discipline as to what Economics actually is and what is does.

1/5 https://www.ifs.org.uk/publications/15261

Economics is not a widely offered subject at A-Level, and in NI the schools which offer it are predominantly grammar schools.
Initiatives like @DiscoverEcon are vital. If students making Uni choices had a better idea of what Economics actually is I think we would see a much 2/5

more diverse range of students choosing it as an option. My perceptions of what Economics was were wildly different before I started it at A-Level. If I hadn't had the opportunity to have these perceptions corrected I never would have pursued it. 3/5

Being exposed to Economics before University totally changed my career path. I was also lucky that my A-Level teacher happened to be female, dispelling the idea it was "for boys". 4/5

More female economists being visible in the media and having the opportunity to engage with schools can also help to address the predominately male image Economics has, both inside and outside of the discipline 5/5