Some thoughts on my new essay (w/ Andrew Langan) for the "women in economics" symposium coming soon in JEP
scholar.princeton.edu/sites/default/…
Thread below 👇
scholar.princeton.edu/sites/default/…
Thread below 👇
It's well known that few (~32%) of PhD students in economics are women
We investigate variation around this mean:
High of 50% 😃
Low of 10% 😡
(These are decadal averages!)
We investigate variation around this mean:
High of 50% 😃
Low of 10% 😡
(These are decadal averages!)
What's more: we find that some PhD programs have excellent relative outcomes for women (first placement, publication, promotion).... and some don't
"relative outcome" = women's outcomes compared to men in same program
"relative outcome" = women's outcomes compared to men in same program
We rank 22 programs with complete data from BEST to WORST on relative outcomes for women, Consumer Reports style
(We decided to omit school names from this table because our goal is not to call out any one school. But we are happy to share individual school ranks with department chairs who want to improve their programs)
Our next step was to ask: are there any correlates of good relative outcomes for women? There are some… but our sense was that we don’t have the right variables coded or even know what the right variables might be
So, we took the plunge into our first qualitative analysis, interviewing ~30 faculty/students at 5 schools
We find 4 characteristics associated w/ better relative performance for women PhDs in economics:
1. More women on faculty
2. Program structured to facilitate faculty/student interactions
3. More supportive seminar culture
4. Awareness of gender bias, esp. among senior men
1. More women on faculty
2. Program structured to facilitate faculty/student interactions
3. More supportive seminar culture
4. Awareness of gender bias, esp. among senior men
#2 bears more comment. Schools can try:
* Assigning faculty mentors to check in on 1st years
* Offering faculty-led small research groups for 3rd years (lab style)
* Requiring presentations at works-in-progress seminars after exams
* Assigning faculty mentors to check in on 1st years
* Offering faculty-led small research groups for 3rd years (lab style)
* Requiring presentations at works-in-progress seminars after exams
Before you say "students are adults and can structure their own PhD experience" (something I used to believe!), think about disparate impact on women, URMs and others who don't feel like "insiders"
Also think about the standardization of job market placement in recent years... a positive development and a good model to follow!
AND HERE
Phew, my first ever paper thread... it's hard y'all. Thanks to all of you who tweet your research regularly!
