[PLEASE NOTE, THIS EVENT HAS BEEN POSTPONED UNTIL MARCH 2024]

After receiving feedback from local schools and teachers that the event calendar is very busy at this time of year, the organising committee has decided to instead run the event in March 2024.

The panel speakers are excited to see your interest in what will be a very important decision and look forward to meeting you next year.

The NSW Women in Economics Network ("WEN") committee, hosted by Western Sydney University is running a half-day information session for high school students making important decisions on subject choices. The in-person event is open to students in Years 9 and 10, and parents who may be interested in finding out why studying economics at school, can prepare you for life.

Why is the study of economics so important? How can it help you to critically analyse policy decisions? What career opportunities are open to you if you choose to study economics?

This in-person event offers high school students and parents the opportunity to find out more about the field of economics, the types of jobs available on completion of study, and why it’s never been a better time to study economics in high school.

Hear from a panel of Economists from a range of sectors, keen to share their love of economics, why they never regretted studying economics at school/university, and why high school is the best time to be thinking about how economics can be applied to solve real world problems.

Panel Members

• Maria Varua, Associate Professor, Western Sydney University
• Lyla Zhang, Associate Professor, Macquarie Business School
• Evie Fox Koob, Manager, Deloitte Access Economics
• Annie Truong, A/Associate Director, Investment NSW

The half day program offers high school students (and parents) an exciting opportunity to participate in:

• An interactive session that offers a fun introduction to economic concepts and models
• An information session that provides an introduction to Economics and types of jobs/careers available to Economists
• A panel discussion with Economists from all walks of life
• Q&A

Details and Registration

Students of all genders are welcome to attend this event. We look forward to seeing you there.

About The Panel

Associate Professor Maria Estela Varua is an agricultural economist and a socio-economist with over 20 years’ experience in Australia, Asia, and Africa. Her primary area of expertise centres on agricultural and resource economics, with a focus on rural development, water management, equity and inclusion, FOGO, circular economy, and capacity building. She has published in various academic journals such as Journal of Hydrology, Economic Record, Emerging Markets Review, Water, Accounting and Finance, Groundwater for Sustainable Development. Maria Estela has participated in several transdisciplinary projects, including a $1.2 million project with ACIAR on water management, a CRC project on water use, and a Westpac Foundation project on NGO-corporate relationships. She has been the recipient of various scholarships and fellowships including AIDAB Scholarship, ICLARM-Ford Foundation Fellowship, SEARCA Fellowship and the WINROCK Scholarship. She is currently the Associate Dean Research for the School of Business, Western Sydney University Research Theme Champion (RTC) for Education and Work and a member of the Australia- India Water Centre (AIWC).

Associate Professor Le (Lyla) Zhang is an experimental economist at Macquarie Business School. She specialises in utilising experimental economics methods and behavioural insights to study human decision-making. Her research agenda, combining the theory with experiments, focuses on social preferences, personnel economics, health economics and behavioural finance. Her research has been published in leading economics and management journals, such as Games and Economic Behaviour, Experimental Economics, Journal of Economic Behaviour and Organization, Production and Operations Management, Health Economics, Journal of Banking & Finance, etc.

She is the Associate Director of Macquarie Business School Experimental Economics Laboratory. She is an Editorial Board Member of the Journal of Behavioural and Experimental Economics and a Review Editor of Frontiers in Behavioural Economics. She received the Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (2019-2022).

Evie Fox Koob is a Manager at Deloitte Access Economics. She is a social policy economist, passionate about using economics to address important and complex social problems, with a particular interest in gender equity and equity for First Nations people. Her technical background consists of quantitative and qualitative analysis, including evaluation, economic and social impact assessment, business cases, cost benefit analysis and consultations. She is the Chair of the NSW Women in Economics Network, where she runs the Credible Economist blog among other initiatives. Evie is a key contributor to the gender economics community of practice at Deloitte Access Economics. 

Annie Truong is A/Associate Director at NSW Department of Enterprise, Investment and Trade (DEIT). She is a behavioural economist and passionate about incorporating a more realistic understanding of human behaviour into the way policies, programs and services are designed, to deliver better outcomes for community. She has worked across NSW, Victoria, and Commonwealth Government jurisdictions, and the corporate sector, applying behavioural insights to complex problems in economic and social policy, including Family Violence, Child Protection, Health, and Closing the Gap initiatives. Annie set up the Economics Club at DEIT to connect the latest research in the field of economics with policy and program areas within the Department.