Women in economics
In this paper, Qian et al. explore the link between the gender of economic dissertation authors and the topics of economic research. The authors use almost three decades of the EconLit dissertation database to investigate this link. Their main findings include:
- Rise in Gender-Related Research: There has been a significant increase, from roughly 2% between 2000-2010 to almost 8% by 2017, in gender-related research in economics. Gender-related dissertations are concentrated in applied micro fields, with gender-related dissertations accounting for roughly 15% of dissertations in labor/demography and 10% in health/education.
- Gender Disparities in Research Topics: Women are 4-4.6 percentage points more likely to do gender-related research than men. Women’s greater likelihood of focusing on gender-related research persists in fields with high and low shares of women, suggesting women bring gender-related research into a wide range of fields within economics.
Half Empty and Half Full? Women in Economics and the Rise in Gender-Related Research
Authors: Xuechao Qian, Francisca Antman, Kirk Doran, Bruce Weinberg
From: Stanford University, University of Colorado-Boulder, University of Notre Dame, Ohio State University
