The Underrepresentation of Women in Economics

How are women under-represented?

Economics is a social science that studies the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Like many other social sciences, economics has been dominated by men in classrooms and publications, with economists like Adam Smith and John Maynard Keynes becoming household names. Although women traditionally don't have as large of a presence in STEM and science subjects, they've faced particular sidelining in economics. This is seen in only two women winning the Nobel Award for Economics out of 84 laureates (2.38%), proportionately less than almost every other Nobel Prize category such as Chemistry (2/78%), Medicine (5.48%), Literature (12.9%) and Peace (16.3%). In the workplace, female full and associate professors represent just 13% and 23% of US PhD Faculties ( Authors, using data from the Committee on the Status of Women in the Economics Profession (CSWEP) and the Universal Academic Questionnaire for PhD-granting departments from 1993 to 2017).

Why this is a problem:

1. Discourages gender equality in the work force

A disproportionate balance of women in the economics field perpetuates traditional gender dynamics in an extremely relevant subject that can impact millions, creating high barriers for women to enter this workforce. Moreover, the minute presence of women can discourage future female generations from being interested in economics. The long term effects of great gender inequity might build a toxic and prejudiced working environment against women working in such professions.

2. Prevents innovation and new voices from joining important conversations

The lack of professional female economists highlights the lack of diversity in economics, which can lead to a deprivation of different perspectives on economic issues as women from varying backgrounds aren't available to voice potentially previously unthought ideas.

3. Subdues the discrimination of women in tertiary sectors

With women only representing a small percentage of economists, it's easy for the discrimination they face in their jobs to go ignored or called insignificant. As a result, implicit sexist biases against women might not be called out, making it more difficult to raise awareness of the social difficulties female colleagues have to go through in order to be successful

4. Severely behind STEM and other social science based careers