So many questions and economics as the answer
“When I attended Galileo Galilei Science High School in Alessandria [northeast Italy], my dream was to become a philosopher. I owe it to my mother, the soul-searching that led me to study Economics at Bocconi. Only later did I realize that Economics allowed me to answer the questions that had always haunted me as a young woman: ‘Why do people behave in certain ways? What determines society’s choices?’” Roberta Gatti is now the World Bank’s Chief Economist for the Middle East and North Africa. She talks about her “amazing, challenging and rewarding” career and explains how a deep curiosity about the world and a love of learning have always driven her.
She says: “After graduating, I applied to PhD programs in the United States. I ended up in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with a group of extraordinary classmates, some of whom became lifelong friends.” But books and academia were not enough for her. “I wanted to see the world, to understand why some countries are so much poorer than others, and to measure myself up against something big. That’s where the World Bank came in. I joined 25 years ago and have never left,” she adds.
Her first assignment in 1998 was in the Development Research Group. Today Gatti leads research programs on economic growth, business productivity, gender, social inclusion and the labor market. She also teaches at Georgetown and Johns Hopkins universities. What she loves about her job, she says, is the intellectual stimulation and values that underpin it. “I fully identify with the mission of my institution: ‘A world without poverty on a livable planet,’ I interact daily with fabulously intelligent colleagues from around the world, and I travel a lot, meeting people, academics and politicians.” It’s a complicated, fast-paced life for the mother of three. “I am never bored,” she jokes.
Gatti explains that perseverance has been one of the key ingredients in building an international career, but having constants in her life – a North Star – has also been crucial. He says: “My mother, Francesca Violetta Prandi, has been a continual source of inspiration. She was an orphan from a small village in Piedmont; she taught me my horizons have no limits. She was younger than me when she lost her long battle with breast cancer. But her example of strength, generosity and perseverance guides me every day.”
Values that have also helped Gatti respond to the difficulties and prejudices that are still entrenched in the business world. “When I was younger and no one listened to me, which happened quite often, it was easy to fall into the trap of ‘it’s me, not them.’ ‘Am I smart enough? Do I talk too much? Am I wearing the wrong dress?’ It’s amazing the number of questions that clutter a person’s mind when they’re led to believe they don’t fit in. But I’ve tried to be an active force of change.” How? Today, Gatti mentors the next generation of development economists. And she says: “It’s one of the most gratifying parts of my job.”
