The Shortage of Sheilas: Why so Few Women Economists at Macquarie?

Melanie Beresford and Andrea Chareunsy ()

No 601, Research Papers from Macquarie University, Department of Economics

Abstract: Only 19 per cent of academic staff in the Economics Department at Macquarie University are women, a proportion that has not improved over the last decade. We investigate the reasons for this gender imbalance, focusing particularly on why it is that few qualified women have applied for positions. Declining numbers of economics graduates is a national phenomenon, but data from Macquarie show that this is a trend that particularly affects women. We found, from our surveys of staff and students in the Department, that the relative shortage of women is primarily related to attitudes and decisions taken either prior to the commencement of university studies or due to external influences such as pressure of family commitments. Interestingly, however, a higher proportion of female than male third-year students showed an interest in pursuing an academic career. While attitudes of staff were generally found to be gender neutral, we found some evidence that staff members could do more to encourage these students.

Keywords: Gender equity; women economists; undergraduate and postgraduate economics; economics teaching; Macquarie University (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A11 A14 A2 I21 J16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 35 pages.
Date: 2006-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hpe, nep-lab and nep-sog
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:mac:wpaper:0601

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