Women in Economics
The importance of female representation in a male-dominated field
Women have long been underepresented in the field of economics, both professionally as economists themselves, and in terms of what economists study. Worldwide roughly 25 percent of economists identify as female (IDEAS). It is perhaps unsurpising then that historically the female experience and issues of gender are often ignored in economic analysis, or tacked on, considered a deviation from the standard behavior of rational economic man. Hopefully as women's representation in academia increases this imbalance will start to shift, and half the population will be embraced more holistically by the economic profession, benefitting everyone.
Female Nobel Laureates
As of July 2020 only two women have received the Nobel memorial Prixe in Economic Science, they are:
Elinor Ostrom: For her groundbreaking work on community governance, showing that communities are able to manage local resources without
regulation by central government authority.
Esther Duflo: For her experimental work, using randomized controlled trials, into the alleviation of global poverty.
Further Reading
If you'd like to learn more about economics and gender and the work being done by female economists, check out the following works:
- Beyond Economic Man: Feminist Theory and Economics by Marianne A. Ferber and Julie A. Nelson
- Women's Work and Economic Development by Kristin Mammen and Christina Paxson
- The Cultural Foundations of Economic Development: Urban Female Entrepreneurship in Ghana by Emily Chamlee-Wright
- The Gender Wage Gap: Extent, Trends, and Explanations by Francine D. Blau and Lawrence M. Khan
This page was built by Alice Calder