Catching up on some reading this long weekend. First, @thenoclub. I thought, since I'm familiar with the authors' experiments on how women are more likely to be asked to do unrewarding tasks, and also agree to do them, that I knew what would be in the book, but I was wrong. This is an insightful and inspiring book, with vivid examples across a wide range of professions, about how and why women in the workforce end up overburdened by the "non-promotable tasks" that are essential to businesses, other organizations and, of course, academia.

"The data that crisis pregnancy centers are capable of collecting—names, locations, family details, sexual and medical histories, non-diagnostic ultrasound images—can now be deployed against those who seek their help."
newyorker.com/magazine/2022/… "Both abortion and miscarriage currently occur more than a million times each year in America, and the two events are often clinically indistinguishable. Because of this, prohibition states will have a profoundly invasive interest in differentiating between them."

A short thread about diversity in economics: Many departments and research units have been working on diversity and inclusion statements this year. Some statement drafts explicitly attribute econ's lack of diversity to discrimination, inequitable treatment, systematic bias, etc. We were not so straightforward in the past, and this appears to have aroused indignation in many, who argue "you can't possibly know that's why econ is not diverse! Maybe it's preferences! Maybe it's productivity! You can't say it's discrimination!"

Many of you have seen this devastating essay on sexism in the academy, but here's a thread. It's interesting, and more forthright and radical on the topic than we are accustomed to in economics. nplusonemag.com/issue-34/essay… Overall, women's progress in the academy has stalled, and the proportion of black women among tenured US faculty has fallen since 1993, according to one study.

Some thoughts after attending the terrific #WEBDiversitySummit organized by @caleconwomen. For me, one main takeaway was the informational disadvantage facing female, minority, and many international grad students. It is hard for faculty to remember how little grad students know about the generally-unspoken rules of grad school and about how they can be successful as junior economists.