Bernadette Gayun Chan is currently pursuing a PhD in economics at The New School for Social Research with a concentration in Feminist Economics and Methodology. She received an MS in Nonprofit Management with a focus in Economics, Gender, and Social Policy from The Milano School of Policy, Management, and Environment and an MS in Accounting from St. John’s University where she also received a BS in Economics and Accounting. Prior to returning to The New School, Bernadette was an Academic Affairs Fellow at Naugatuck Community College of the Connecticut Community College system and taught economics as a lecturer at John Jay College and LaGuardia Community College of the City University of New York system.

Bernadette is an Asian-American woman and the daughter of immigrants to New York City. She was born, raised, and continues to live with family in New York City. She loves running and movement and has volunteered with Girls on the Run and New York Road Runners: Run for the Future, programs, which introduce girl-/woman-identifying youth to the holistic benefits and joys of running, fitness, and wellness. She also love animals, bagels, and sound bath meditations. 

The objective of Bernadette’s dissertation is to study Intersectionality with respect to political economy and economics. It encompasses and represents theory, philosophy of science, epistemology, methodology and methods, and most importantly, praxis, with an eye toward social justice, change, and actionable empowerment. The problem of a lack of diversity and the underrepresentation of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) and especially of BIPOC women has been a well-known issue within the economics community for some time. 

The theoretical foundation of her GIDEST project is that of “Epistemic Exclusion.” It contains both macro and micro aspects: individual biases and structural/institutional practices. It is also a concept with very few empirical studies. Not much has been documented as to how epistemic exclusion functions and operates within academia, and certainly not within the economics discipline in particular. Little is known about its short-term and long-term effects on scholars. The objective of this chapter is to produce ethnography of what it means to be a scholar of identity and to be a BIPOC woman heterodox economist. It will present qualitative-based research via interviews and narratives representing a marked methodological departure from the disciplinary norms of economics. Her writing represents an attempt to both, understand why the economics discipline has performed so poorly in scholar demographics and to motivate reflection amongst fellow heterodox economists to locate overlooked problems and identify actionable, implementable solutions.