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Reaching the Top? On Gender Balance in the Economics Profession

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  • Christina Jonung
  • Ann-Charlotte StÃ¥hlberg

Abstract

Despite an increasing number of women entering the economics profession during recent decades, it is still dominated by men. This paper summarizes the situation in academic economics in Australia, Canada, Great Britain, the United States, and Sweden (substantial appendices, not previously available in English, detail the situation in Sweden). Women constitute about a third of the PhD graduates in each country, but their share of the economics full professors is still between 5 and 9 percent. Compared to other academic fields, economics has the greatest gender discrepancy in career attainment. We discuss various reasons for the under-representation of women, and call for continued efforts to increase the presence of women.

Suggested Citation

  • Christina Jonung & Ann-Charlotte StÃ¥hlberg, 2008. "Reaching the Top? On Gender Balance in the Economics Profession," Econ Journal Watch, Econ Journal Watch, vol. 5(2), pages 174-192, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:ejw:journl:v:5:y:2008:i:2:p:174-192
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Colleen Manchester & Debra Barbezat, 2013. "The Effect of Time Use in Explaining Male–Female Productivity Differences Among Economists," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(1), pages 53-77, January.
    3. Ann Mari May, 2008. "On Gender Balance in the Economics Profession," Econ Journal Watch, Econ Journal Watch, vol. 5(2), pages 193-198, May.
    4. Marcella Corsi & Giulia Zacchia, 2014. "Women Economists in Italy: A Bibliometric Analysis of their Scientific Production in the Past Decade," Working Papers CEB 14-008, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    5. John A. Johnson, 2008. "Preferences Underlying Women's Choices in Academic Economics," Econ Journal Watch, Econ Journal Watch, vol. 5(2), pages 219-226, May.
    6. van Dalen, Hendrik Peter, 2018. "Invisible barriers to the top for female economists," Other publications TiSEM 86a9c814-6feb-4056-b7dd-1, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    7. Garett Jones, 2008. "What Is the Right Number of Women? Hints and Puzzles from Cognitive Ability Research," Econ Journal Watch, Econ Journal Watch, vol. 5(2), pages 227-239, May.
    8. Gerdes, Christer & Gränsmark, Patrik, 2010. "Strategic behavior across gender: A comparison of female and male expert chess players," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(5), pages 766-775, October.
    9. Fredrik Carlsson & Åsa Löfgren & Thomas Sterner, 2012. "Discrimination in Scientific Review: A Natural Field Experiment on Blind versus Non‐Blind Reviews," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 114(2), pages 500-519, June.
    10. Emily C. Marshall & Brian O’Roark, 2023. "Journal Authorship by Gender: A Comparison of Economic Education, General Interest, and Fields From 2009 to 2019," The American Economist, Sage Publications, vol. 68(1), pages 100-109, March.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    economics; women; gender; gender balance; career advancement;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J7 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination
    • A11 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Role of Economics; Role of Economists
    • A14 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Sociology of Economics

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