Saint Ben’s @ Home: The Economic Impact of the Pandemic on Women

The mission and identity of Saint Ben’s as a college for women is the essence of who we are. As we move with our partners at Saint John’s University toward a single president, it’s important to define exactly what being a college for women means. After all, alumnae, students and friends of both Saint Ben’s and Saint John’s share the importance of strengthening our individual identities even as we work toward sensible integration.

So this spring we’re hosting a robust series of webinars directly focused on our future as a college for women … and why that matters. And we are going to take it up a notch by including the application of what we learn during these webinars in our everyday life.

Next in the series will be a special sit-down conversation between moderator Kathy Hansen (CSB VP of Institutional Advancement) and CSB/SJU professor of economics and chair of the department of economics, Sucharita Mukherjee and Senior Vice President at AmeriPrise Financial Inc., Erika Oesterlein Perrault ‘91. They will discuss the article ‘She-cession’ that Dr. Mukherjee wrote in the January edition of the College of Saint Benedict magazine, that talks about the economic impacts of COVID on women, including how women are disproportionately impacted by the pandemic through inequality in the labor markets and the burden of unpaid work done by women. How do we get out of this mess? How can people mitigate the effects of the pandemic on women in their own organizations?

About our panelists
Erika Oesterlein Perrault '91 is the Senior Vice President of Advice and Wealth Management Program and Field Implementation and a member of the senior leadership team within The Personal Advisors Group of Ameriprise Financial. Erika has accountability for the Project Management Office and Execution Management Office for the Advice & Wealth Management business. 

Erika is passionate about increasing the number of women leaders in the financial services industry. Aligned with that commitment, she leads the Women’s Strategy for The Personal Advisors Group of the firm, the objective of which is to make Ameriprise Financial the firm of choice for women advisors and field sales leaders.

Erika also serves as Vice Chair of Solid Ground, an award-winning non-profit. Solid Ground is dedicated to helping families build strong foundations to emerge from homelessness into a brighter future for the next generation.

Erika holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the College of Saint Benedict and a Master of Business Communication from the University of St. Thomas.

Sucharita Sinha Mukherjee Ph.D. is a professor of economics and chair of the department of economics at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University. In addition to teaching classes in economics, she also teaches gender studies and Asian studies classes. Here areas of interest and specialization is development economics, Asian economics and feminist economics. 

Professor Mukherjee recently wrote an article featured in the College of Saint Benedict magazine entitled "She-cession, American Women and Covid-19: The Pandemic Reveals an Urgent Call to Action" (see page 12). She has been published nationally and internationally.  

Professor Mukherjee has a Bachelor of Science in Economics from St. Xavier's College in India, a Master of Science in Economics from the University of Calcutta in India, a Master of Philosophy in Development Policy from the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research and a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of California, Riverside.