Women in economics

A comparison of the share of women in universities and economic policy institutions.

Female staff and female professors have been, and still are, very much underrepresented at economics faculties in the Netherlands. In our first ESB-dossier in English, 23 authors provide analysis and recommendations in order to improve the representation of women. With, among others, a roundtable discussion between young academics, an interview with Siv Gustafsson, a survey among economics faculties by Janneke Plantenga, columns by Esther-Mirjam Sent and Mirjam van Praag, and much more.

For a way too long time, economics has had a shameful reputation when it comes to the role of ‘women in economics’. Female staff and female professors have been, and still are, very much underrepresented, even when taking into account their lower enrolment rates in BA, MA and PhD programmes.

Explicit discrimination against women in the Netherlands is definitely something of the past, but it appears that there still is a barrier for women trying to attain a professorial appointment.

In response to ESB’s invitation for a round table on gender issues in economics on October 8th, we received an email from an assistant professor who is leaving the Netherlands because of the overall climate for women.

Van de bètawetenschappen wordt er vaak gezegd dat het echte mannenbolwerken zijn. Minder bekend is dat de economie als wetenschapsgebied een minstens even sterke ondervertegenwoordiging van vrouwen kent. Dit heeft mogelijk gevolgen voor sociaal-economisch beleid.