Dr Leonora Risse is an economist who specialises in gender equality.
She is an Associate Professor in Economics at the University of Canberra and a Research Fellow with the Women’s Leadership Institute Australia, and serves as an Expert Panel Member on gender pay equity for the Fair Work Commission. She formerly held roles with the Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard University, and the Australian Government Productivity Commission. She earned her PhD in Economics from the University of Queensland.
Leonora is a co-founder and former National Chair of the Women in Economics Network (WEN) in Australia.
Leonora’s research focuses on gender gaps in the workplace, including the gender pay gap and women’s under-representation in leadership and decision-making.
She engages regularly with governments and organisations on evidence-based policies to close gender gaps and how to apply a ‘gender lens’ to economic analysis and policy design.
Leonora’s economic expertise extends to labour economics, disadvantage and wellbeing. She engages regularly with the media to empower everyday audiences with a greater understanding of economic issues.
In 2021 she was named as one of Apolitical’s 100 Most Influential People in Gender Policy.
Qualifications
PhD in Economics, University of Queensland (2008)
Bachelor of Economics (Hons I), University of Queensland (2002) (Recipient of University Medal)
Bachelor of Arts (Majors in English and Journalism), University of Queensland (2001)
appointments & affiliations
Associate Professor in Economics, University of Canberra
Research Fellow, Women’s Leadership Institute Australia (WLIA)
National Economic Panel, Economic Society of Australia (ESA)
Associate Investigator, ARC Centre of Excellence for Children and Families over the Life Course (LCC)
Senior Lecturer in Economics, RMIT University (2021-2023)
Board Member, Gender Equity Victoria (2021-2022)
Social Policy Committee, National Foundation for Australian Women (NFAW) (2020-2023)
National Chair, Women in Economics Network (WEN) (2020-2022)
Research Fellow, Women and Public Policy Program (WAPPP), Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University (2019-2020)
Vice-Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellow, RMIT (2017-2019)
Senior Research Economist, Productivity Commission (2009-2014)
RECENT CONTRIBUTIONS
Sidelined no longer, Claudia Goldin wins the 2023 Nobel Prize in Economics for examining why gender pay gaps persist 🔗
Equal opportunities and pay for women
Presentation to Jobs and Skills Summit 🔗
Gender-responsive policymaking 🔗
Gender-responsive budgets, legislation and policy 🔗
A Budget for our times: Applying a gender lens
Women in Economics National Press Club Address 🔗
Applying a gender lens to the budget is not about pitting women against men 🔗
Economics and gender equality: A lens from within 🔗
RBG showed the value of dissent in decision making 🔗
“There’s no such thing as the gender pay gap”
Addressing myths and misperceptions with facts and evidence 🔗
Leaning in: Is higher confidence the key to women’s career advancement? 🔗
Do gender gaps in confidence explain gender gaps in pay? 🔗
Navigating a path towards gender equality as a progressive journey of bias awareness 🔗
Undervalued and unseen: Australia’s COVID-19 frontline workforce 🔗
In a ‘she-cession’, we can’t rely on ‘he-covery’ policy fixes 🔗
A gender lens on the workforce impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia 🔗
What’s the state of gender equality in Victoria? 🔗
When work becomes a masculinity contest 🔗