Women in Economics: Stalled Progress
Publication type
preprint
Publication date
2018
Author(s)
Lundberg, Shelly
Stearns, Jenna
Publisher
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
Language
English
Discipline(s)
Abstract
In this paper, we first document trends in the gender composition of academic economists over the past 25 years, the extent to which these trends encompass the most elite departments, and how women's representation across fields of study within economics has changed. We then review the recent literature on other dimensions of women's relative position in the discipline, including research productivity and income, and assess evidence on the barriers that female economists face in publishing, promotion, and tenure. While underlying gender differences can directly affect the relative productivity of men and women, due to either differential constraints or preferences, productivity gaps do not fully explain the gender disparity in promotion rates in economics. Furthermore, the progress of women has stalled relative to that in other disciplines in the past two decades. We propose that differential assessment of men and women is one important factor in explaining this stalled progress, reflected in gendered institutional policies and apparent implicit bias in promotion and editorial review processes.
Series (WP)
IZA Discussion Paper Series
ISSN
2193-8997