Professor Alicia Adsera
Professor Alicia Adsera is a Senior Research Scholar in Economics and International Affairs at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs. She focuses on studying demography, development, relevancy of languages, the causes and effects of migrations, the well being of child migrants, and immigrant fertility. She is the Director of Graduate Studies for Princeton's Office of Populations Research. Adsera has also taught at The University of Illinois in Chicago, Ohio University, and Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona. She earned her PhD from Boston University in 1996, and her work has been published in a variety of noteworthy journals.
1. When you were a teenager, what was your dream for the future?
As a teenager, I wanted to find ways in life to make a difference to those around me using my skills; and to make the world a bit better through the way I treated others.
I wanted to make sure that, as I grew older, I would continue always to be open to new experiences, excited about learning new things. I knew I wanted to have a professional life but also hoped to form a loving family.
2. What motivated you to pursue your career as a professor and an economist?
In Barcelona, where I grew up, you had to choose your major at 18. I was interested in many subjects. I thought about medicine and also about linguistics. I ended up studying economics because I love math and I care about social issues. I thought that economics was versatile and offered multiple career paths.
I picked the academic life because I enjoy the freedom of choosing my research topics and the ability to spend time working on them. I also like to interact with students (both graduates and undergraduates) and the energy they bring into the class.
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3. What were some of the biggest challenges you faced on the path to reach your goals?
Combining a career and raising children has been challenging at times. Learning to multitask at times was important to be able to handle work and family demands. However, there were times that the demands of childrearing were intense. Raising my children has been both one of the most enjoyable and most humbling tasks in my life.
At the beginning of my professional life, the Departments where I worked had very few women. This fact combined with some shyness made it difficult at times to participate in discussions or approach colleagues for questions. Things have changed quite dramatically over the last years and the Economics profession is becoming slowly more women friendly.
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4. How did you overcome these challenges?
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It was important to first acknowledge that trying to “do it all” at the same time and aiming for perfection was not possible. My husband and I shared the tasks in the house/childrearing very evenly and he always was supportive of my career. The fact that he is also an academic and understands well my professional world has helped enormously.
I was tenacious in searching and lucky in obtaining funding to free up some time for research when I needed it most.
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5. What advice would you give to your younger self?
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Trust more on yourself. Search for things that bring you passion, not necessarily for things everyone expects you to do. Be realistic without losing the joy.
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- Anjali Brunnermeier, December 2020