Interview with Shruti Ratnaparkhi

Shruti is pursuing Masters in Public Administration from London School of Economics

The Indian community is often stereotyped in fields like science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), and when we look at the career choices made by many Indian students, this stereotype seems to hold some truth. However, there are also many students who take different paths. Our guest, Shruti, is one of these students who chose to pursue Economics And international affairs. Let's dive into her journey and explore the diverse career options in this field.

Interview is conducted by Shivani Galgali. Shivani is a senior at Mason High School and is planning to pursue a degree in business economics as well.

Hi Shruti, Thank you for joining us. First of all we would like to know about your background. Where did you grow up and go to school? What was your journey throughout high school and college?

Sure. So I was born here in Ohio in Kettering, Dayton. And then when I was around five, my parents decided that we're moving back to India. So I lived in Pune for five years from when I was around five to when I turned 10, and that was a very, very different educational experience compared to what you'd expect here. Everything from wearing uniforms to having my nails checked every day. It was intense and the education system is also quite different. A lot of it was based on memorization and a lot more controlled compared to schools here. I moved back to Dayton when I was, like, 10. That was the best summer of my life because I got, like, five months of vacation since schools in India used to end in April, I think, and didn’t start till August. It was great.

How was the transition moving back?

That was also an interesting transition. Again, there's culture shock going both ways. So even though when I was five years old, I experienced moving there, and then coming back, you know, a lot of what I'd seen of American life, like elementary school, middle school, was literally through Disney Channel TV shows. I did my elementary, middle school, and high school all here in Dayton at Centerville.I think the one thing I got used to living in Pune was that I was in a city. I was surrounded by a lot of people, and there was always some sort of excitement, something going on, and Dayton, Ohio is a far stretch from that in a lot of ways. So from a pretty young age too, I always felt like I wanted to go live in a big city. I wanted to be somewhere just surrounded by people. And so that also influenced my decision when I was trying to decide where to go to college and where to apply. I wanted to go to a city school.

How did you decide on your future pathway? Which area to pick for further studies and which college to target?

From a pretty young age, it became clear to me that I was not interested in pursuing the sciences. It was just not something I was especially passionate about. The classes I really tended to like a lot more were history and languages, and it's something I found myself also excelling in quite a bit. So that really informed my decision then in college to go for the liberal arts route, ultimately the majors I chose, economics and international affairs, were a combination of all the things I sort of enjoyed doing in high school.

My dream place was NYU, and then I also looked at GW. I got into both places but GW offered really good scholarships and also the economics and international affairs programs at GW are more well structured compared to NYU. GW is also highly respected and offers both theoretical and practical perspectives. As an econ major, you can choose between a Bachelor of Arts (BA) or a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree. The BA leans more toward a liberal arts education with a focus on qualitative methods, while the BS is more quantitative and emphasizes technical skills.Thanks to its location, the program provides a lot of internship and networking opportunities with government agencies, non-profits, think tanks, and international institutions within the city.

Can you tell us about your journey at GW and after?

So one thing that happened when I entered college was the 2016 election. I was watching the whole process and for a period I was a little bit disillusioned with domestic politics and I took a turn into doing more international focused development. I wanted to work for more international organizations, international nonprofits. That’s when I got more into nonprofit work.During internships I also chose to work with some really small nonprofits because, as an intern, you get a lot more hands-on exposure in smaller organizations. I started with a really small nonprofit with a $4M budget, which is, in the grand scheme of things, not a lot. I really enjoyed that work and continued down that route. In between, I did more advocacy and foreign policy-focused work with a few organizations as well.

After graduation, I joined the United Nations Foundation’s Digital Impact Alliance team as a Senior Associate, Programs and Operations. In this role I supported digital public infrastructure, govtech, and digital literacy programs across Mozambique, Malawi, Tanzania, DRC, and Sierra Leone. I was also involved in managing restricted and unrestricted donor grants to operationalize an annual budget of $8M to $13M. I really enjoyed this period and the difference I could make.

And then you decided to go for Masters right? Can you tell us about that?

Yes, after about 2 years of working, I became a full time student again and joined The London School of Economics and Political Science, School of Public Policy for Masters in Public Administration with specialization in Economic Policy. I thoroughly enjoyed the school and the city of London. At school I got exposure to Fiscal Governance and Budgeting, Technology Policy, Strategic Philanthropy and Impact Investing, Public Economics. Also as part of the experience I got to work as a consultant for a UK government agency. Overall it was a very positive experience. Since I graduated this year, I am carefully watching the changing direction of federal government policies. In this period of turmoil I am trying to pick the best direction for my career.

What other types of careers are open for Economics students and what advice would you give current highschoolers?

It really comes down to your interests because economics is such a versatile field. I knew econ majors can opt for consulting, finance, international development, economic development, working with organizations like the IMF, World Bank, or IFC. Or they can pursue CSR-oriented roles in the private sector, a few even worked in ministries of finance or central banks. Honestly, the world is your oyster with an economics degree—it opens doors to so many different paths depending on what you’re passionate about. The only advice or lesson I would share is that you’re on your own journey. You can’t look at the people next to you and compare, because it will drive you insane. Even in environments where it's really cutthroat, it will hold you back if you're just always looking around and not within yourself. I felt this very intensely going into college because GW was intense. People were interning in their first semester while doing a full course load. But you don't need to be doing a lot of crazy things constantly. It's okay to take time and think through your next steps. You're carving your own path.