This article was published in TSE science magazine, TSE Mag. It is part of the Autumn 2023 issue, dedicated to “The World of Work”. Discover the full PDF here and email us for a printed copy or your feedback on the mag, there.
Women are underrepresented in many industries and academic disciplines, but the gender gap in economics is particularly large and persistent. In the US, there are about three males for every female student majoring in economics and this ratio has not changed for more than 20 years. Why has progress stalled? How do other countries compare? In a recently published paper, TSE professor Emmanuelle Auriol and her co-authors analyzed data from around 1,400 institutions – including top universities, business schools, and central banks – to look for answers.
“In the early years of my career, being a woman was a big handicap.” Elinor Ostrom, the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2009, turned what was considered as a flaw into a strength. Today, women working in economics still have to overcome many obstacles. In the United States, between 30% and 35% of PhDs in economics were earned by women over the past decade, and yet, in 2019, only 14.5% of full professors were women.
This “leaky pipeline” phenomenon, highlighted in Emmanuelle Auriol’s work with Guido Friebel, Alisa Weinberger and Sascha Wilhelm, is just one of the illustrations of the gender gap in economics. Researchers have also found that women are held against higher editorial standards, evaluated more critically, and given less credit for their publications. Many barriers prevent or delay women’s ascent to senior positions, and if they make it to the top, in the US they are paid just 75% of men’s salaries (according to 2010 data).
Sexism
A hostile environment can discourage women from applying for a job in economics. Alice Wu’s recent study of the Economics Job Market Rumors online forum reveals evidence of strong stereotypes and sexism, with many women highlighting inappropriate behavior during job interviews, seminars or meetings. Another study shows they are interrupted much more frequently than men in seminars and often asked “paternalistic” questions.
And yet, the presence of women in economics is necessary because they choose different research topics than men, working for instance more on health or education than on macroeconomics. The weak representation of women in the most prestigious and powerful positions implies less focus on these topics and less publicity around the results.
Worse in the United States
According to Emmanuelle’s data, the share of women in economics departments is around 35% in Australia and New Zealand, around 32% in Europe, and only 26% in North America.
Top institutions in the US hold their female faculty to higher standards not only at senior level, but already at entry level. This might be due to differences in culture, hiring practices or the academic job market.
The authors suggest we need to think more carefully about the matching process between job-market candidates and employers, since women might refrain from applying for the best academic positions because they lack confidence, or encouragement and mentoring from female senior economists.
FURTHER READING
- Underrepresentation of women in the economics profession more pronounced in the United States compared to heterogeneous Europe, Emmanuelle Auriol and G. Friebel, A. Weinberger and S. Wilhelm, 2022.
- Plafond de verre et discrimination dans la profession des économistes, Emmanuelle Auriol, 2023.
