Yellen says she wants to raise awareness of need for diversity in economics profession

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen says she wants to raise awareness of the need for diversity among economists, with relatively few women and minorities still choosing to major in economics in college.

Yellen, who is the first woman to head the central bank in its 100-year history, was speaking Thursday at a conference on diversity in the economics profession organized by the Fed and the American Economics Association.

Yellen said "history shows that economies develop and become more stable through diversification." She added that in the financial world, diversity among market players is critical in spreading risk.

And she said decisions by the Fed are better because of the range of perspectives among its policymakers.