Women in Leadership in Economics Initiative (IEA-WE)
The IEA has embarked on a multi-year project focusing on enhancing the role of women in the global economics profession. We will undertake research in multiple countries focused on understanding and removing obstacles to women in the profession and engage in a variety of activities to amplify women economists’ voices in the global public sphere.
The initiative is led by Ashwini Deshpande, (Ashoka University) with María Inés Berniell (Universidad Nacional de la Plata and CEDLAS), Raquel Fernández (New York University), Dani Rodrik (Harvard University), and Fiona Tregenna (University of Johannesburg) as team members. We are grateful to the Co-Impact Foundation and the Open Society Foundation for financial support that has made this initiative possible.
Brief description
Economics plays an outsized role in our contemporary world in shaping public narratives about the role of governments, business, and public policy. Yet there are clear gaps in the gender composition of professional leadership in economics–and these gaps are only magnified when viewed through the lens of ethnicity, race, and geography. Our project aims to counteract this multifaceted problem and advance leadership by all women in economics. This is an objective that is important in its own right, insofar as barriers to women in the profession result in both inequity and a poorer discipline overall. It is important also because fuller representation and greater diversity would contribute to an improved understanding of our public problems and their solutions, and hence better functioning societies and more accountable polities.
We begin with the recognition that advancing women to leadership positions in the economics profession will require expanding the pipeline of well-qualified women economists, as well as removing or loosening structural or systemic bottlenecks within the profession that adversely affect women. While this is a ubiquitous issue globally, women economists from developing countries are doubly disadvantaged: they battle constraints on account of their gender as well as their location. Our analysis will adopt an intersectional lens, specifically focusing on geography and race/caste/ethnicity, to identify patterns of multiple disadvantage.
The IEA has embarked on a multi-year project focusing on enhancing the role of women in the global economics profession. We will undertake research in multiple countries focused on understanding and removing obstacles to women in the profession and engage in a variety of activities to amplify women economists’ voices in the global public sphere.
The initiative is led by Ashwini Deshpande, (Ashoka University) with Ana Inés Berniell (Universidad Nacional de la Plata and CEDLAS), Raquel Fernández (New York University), Dani Rodrik (Harvard University), and Fiona Tregenna (University of Johannesburg) as team members. We are grateful to the Co-Impact Foundation and the Open Society Foundation for financial support that has made this initiative possible.
Brief description
Economics plays an outsized role in our contemporary world in shaping public narratives about the role of governments, business, and public policy. Yet there are clear gaps in the gender composition of professional leadership in economics–and these gaps are only magnified when viewed through the lens of ethnicity, race, and geography. Our project aims to counteract this multifaceted problem and advance leadership by all women in economics. This is an objective that is important in its own right, insofar as barriers to women in the profession result in both inequity and a poorer discipline overall. It is important also because fuller representation and greater diversity would contribute to an improved understanding of our public problems and their solutions, and hence better functioning societies and more accountable polities.
We begin with the recognition that advancing women to leadership positions in the economics profession will require expanding the pipeline of well-qualified women economists, as well as removing or loosening structural or systemic bottlenecks within the profession that adversely affect women. While this is a ubiquitous issue globally, women economists from developing countries are doubly disadvantaged: they battle constraints on account of their gender as well as their location. Our analysis will adopt an intersectional lens, specifically focusing on geography and race/caste/ethnicity, to identify patterns of multiple disadvantage.
Team members
Ashwini Deshpande
Ashoka University
María Inés Berniell
Universidad Nacional de la Plata and CEDLAS
Raquel Fernández
New York University
Dani Rodrik
Harvard University
Fiona Tregenna
University of Johannesburg
Advisory Group
Radhika Balakrishnan
Rutgers University
Marianne Bertrand
University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Wendy Carlin
University College London, CEPR and Santa Fe Institute
Marcela Eslava
Universidad de los Andes
Rohini Pande
Yale
Leonard Wantchekon
Princeton
Economist-Editor
Navika Mehta
Our project has four major planks:
Creating a research/evidence base
Which will have three components:
- Data gathering and synthesis across three continents, focusing on three countries in Latin America, three countries in Africa and one country (India) in Asia
- Gathering of qualitative cross-national survey evidence on obstacles, including a tracking study
- Evaluation of specific interventions on “what works,” i.e., what interventions are effective and successful in lowering the gender gap
Amplifying women economists’ voice
Which will have two components:
- Partnerships with major global platforms and outlets to provide greater access to women economists
- Partnering with organizations that work towards amplifying women’s voices in the profession
Building synergies between like-minded organizations
Fostering institutional change via professional bodies
Launch event
What Economics Is Missing
March 22, 2023 – 3:00 pm CET
Speakers:
Ashwini Deshpande, Ashoka University
Raquel Fernández, NYU and WELAC
Dani Rodrik, Harvard
Minouche Shafik, LSE
Vera Songwe, United Nations
While economic research and policymaking play an increasingly central role in our contemporary, globalized world, the economics discipline has been slow to reach gender parity, leading to blind spots and poorer decision-making across a wide range of issues. With global instability on the rise, empowering women to contribute fully to our understanding of our public problems and their solutions has become an urgent priority.
What Economics Is Missing marks the launch of the IEA Women in Leadership in Economics Initiative (IEA-WE)
We will be posting periodic project updates here. Visit this page/section for regular updates on the project.