This section includes materials and research evidencing the lack of diversity and inclusion in the Economics profession, and why this is an issue for the discipline.
Note: this is not an exhaustive list, but we hope it is a valuable place to start your research. You can use the general website search function to locate information on a specific topic (click on the icon in the top right corner of this page).
Resource Title | Author(s)/ Organisation / Publication | Summary | Keywords | Publication date | Type of Resource |
Who studies economics? Research Report and associated resources: | Stefania Paredes Fuentes, Tim Burnett, Gabriella Cagliesi, Parama Chaudhury, Denise Hawkes | Research report and all accompanying resources – “Who Studies Economics? An analysis of diversity in the UK economics pipeline” – Comprehensive analysis of diversity in economics exploring the intersection of socio-economic background, gender, and ethnicity among economics students. | socio-economic background, ethnicity, gender, diversity | March 2023 – March 2024 | Report and other |
Breaking barriers and inspiring inclusion for women in economics | National Institute of Economic and Social Research | This podcast from NIESR marks International Women’s Day 2024. Freya Thomas is joined by NIESR Postdoctoral Research Associate Dr Margarida Bandeira Morais, NIESR Principal Economist Dr Larissa Marioni, NIESR Economist Patricia Sánchez Juanino, NIESR Assistant Economist Robyn Smith, and Kingston University Professor Michela Vecchi. They discuss the progress that has been made for women in economics and the barriers that still remain, proposing solutions to overcome these inequalities and inspire inclusion. Listen here on Spotify, here on Soundcloud or here on Apple podcasts. | gender, barriers, economics, inclusion | Mar-24 | Podcast |
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) in the social sciences: summary data report | Economic and Social Research Council | This report, produced at the request of the Academy’s member social science societies, draws on 2021/22 HESA data and POLAR4 data to present a top-level summary of equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) data for the social sciences, for both academic and teaching staff and for student populations in UK higher education. This report is part of the Academy’s programme of EDI work in partnership with the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). | ESRC, social sciences, students, academia, UK higher education | Mar-24 | Research |
Norwich Economic Podcast: UEA Economics to the Bank of England: A black woman’s perspective on the student experience with Atinuke Olayinka | University of East Anglia | Discover the viewpoint of a young black woman making her way in the field of Economics in this 15-minute podcast. From the UEA lecture halls to a placement at the Bank of England, Atinuke Olayinka (UEA Economics Undergraduate) shares her experiences and opinions on problems, solutions, and successes with diversity. | ethnic minority, students, black women, representation | Feb-24 | Podcast |
Monica Costa-Dias, Erin Hengel, Melanie Jones, Henrique Neves | The RES Women’s Committee publish a biennial report on the status of women in academic economics in the UK. All latest findings can be found here. | women, economics, survey, representation | Feb-24 | Research report | |
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Erin Hengel, Eunyoung Moon | Using (asinh) citations as a proxy for quality, we show that female-authored papers published in top economics journals are, on average, higher quality than male-authored papers. | publishing, gender, quality, co-authoring | Nov-22 | Research paper | |
Maria Cubel, Laura Hospido, Judit Vall Castelló (Committee on the Situation of Women in Economics) | This report presents results from a survey on the work climate among the members of the Spanish Economic Association (similar to the one conducted by the American Economic Association). | work environment, women in economics, gender gaps | 2023 | Research | |
Times HE article: What can we do about the diversity problem in economics? | Amrit Amirapu, | Times Higher Education article where a group of economists offer five ideas on how to allow and encourage wider access to economics degrees – which is crucial to making the discipline more effective. | Diversity and inclusion work, | 01-Aug-23 | Article |
AEA conference session: Gender in the Economics Profession (organised by CSWP) | American Economic Association | Session from AEA Annual Meeting in New Orleans on January 6-8, 2023, focusing on gender in the Economics profession – including pipeline, speakers at seminars, gender and tone in economics presentations. | gender, economics | Jan-23 | Video – webinar |
The gender gap in economics is growing – here’s why we need to close it | Rigissa Megalokonomou, | The article is based on 2021 research by the authors on the gender gap in economics higher education within Europrean countries. They argue that despite women being more likely to pursue a university degree than men, the proportion of women graduating in economics has decreased or remained stagnant over the past two decades. | gender gap, undergraduate, economics economics | Nov-21 | Article |
Royal Economic Society | Overview of diversity within economics and key issues faced by the discipline, by Dame Rachel Griffiths, past RES President. | representation, relevance, school education, role models | May-21 | Video | |
Arun Advani | Special session from RES annual conference looking at a variety of diversity topics within Economics, including presentation of research from Arun Advani, followed by a panel discussion. | diversity, royal economic society, economics | May-21 | Video – webinar | |
Pascaline Dupas, | Summary of the first attempt at quantitatively measuring the seminar culture within economics and testing whether it is gender neutral. | economics seminars, women presenters | May-21 | Research paper | |
Jennifer L. Doleac, Erin Hengel, Elizabeth Pancotti | Presentation of descriptive evidence on who gave invited seminar talks in economics (focusing on the gender and underrepresented minority (URM) status of the speakers). | women, seminars, representation | May-21 | Paper | |
Almudena Sevilla, Monica Costas Dias, Sandra McNally, Michela Carlanda, Paola Ciuliano | Special session from RES annual conference looking at gender economics and policy implications. | gender economics, gender pay gap, gender bias, gender and culture | Apr-21 | Video – webinar | |
University of Bristol | Short video from Bristol University where female academics and alumni from the School of Economics discuss what studying and working within economics really means and involves, as well as some of the key real-world issues their insights tackle. | women, economics | Mar-21 | Video | |
Ethnic Diversity in UK Economics: | Arun Advani, Sonkurt Sen, Ross Warwick/ Institute of Fiscal Studies | Examination of the ethnic diversity of academic economists and economics students needed to understand both the source of current under-representation and the prospects for change. Includes a study of some of the barriers faced by economics students. | ethnic diversity, academics, economists, barriers, change | Oct-20 | Research report |
Valentina A. Paredes, | Provides evidence on the importance of explicit and implicit biases against women among students in economics relative to other fields. Findings from a large-scale survey among undergraduate students in Chilean universities, among both entering first-year students and students in years 2 and above. On a wide battery of measures, economics students are more biased than students in other fields. | biases, economics, students | May-20 | Research report | |
Randall Akee | Commentary from the panel discussion at the AEA conference session Jan 2020 on race within the economics profession. | race, gender, representation, bias | Jan-20 | Article | |
An open letter regarding harassment and discrimination in the economics profession. | Advocates for Diversity in Economics | An open letter from graduate students and research assistants within economics, suggesting ways in which professional conduct can be improved in the discipline. | open letter, misconduct, harassment, discrimination | Dec-18 | Letter |
Gemma Tetlow (Financial Times) | This article explores why Economics as a discipline has work to do to broaden its appeal beyond socially-advantaged men. | women economists, gender gap, career | Apr-18 | Article | |
Women and economics: “The profession’s problem with women could be a problem with economics itself” (Economist article) | The Economist | Article from the Economist on the under-representation of women in economics (subscription paywall for full article). | women economists, gender gap, career | Dec-17 | Article |
