Inspiring Students from the St Louis Fed In 2016, Natallia Gray saw some national data that showed that there was only one female student in economics for every three or four male students. Out of curiosity, she asked to see the stats at Southeast Missouri State University, the institution where she taught economics. “I found out that at Southeast we only had one female student for every nine to 10 male students in economics," recalled Gray, who is now an associate professor of health care management at Southeast Missouri. That spurred her to start a mentoring group with the female economic students there, which would eventually inspire the first Women in Economics Symposium at the St. Louis Fed.