Diversity in the Economics Profession: A New Attack on an Old Problem

Amanda Bayer and Cecilia Elena Rouse

Journal of Economic Perspectives, 2016, vol. 30, issue 4, 221-42

Abstract: The economics profession includes disproportionately few women and members of historically underrepresented racial and ethnic minority groups, relative both to the overall population and to other academic disciplines. This underrepresentation within the field of economics is present at the undergraduate level, continues into the ranks of the academy, and is barely improving over time. It likely hampers the discipline, constraining the range of issues addressed and limiting our collective ability to understand familiar issues from new and innovative perspectives. In this paper, we first present data on the numbers of women and underrepresented minority groups in the profession. We then offer an overview of current research on the reasons for the underrepresentation, highlighting evidence that may be less familiar to economists. We argue that implicit attitudes and institutional practices may be contributing to the underrepresentation of women and minorities at all stages of the pipeline, calling for new types of research and initiatives to attack the problem. We then review evidence on how diversity affects productivity and propose remedial interventions as well as findings on effectiveness. We identify several promising practices, programs, and areas for future research.

JEL-codes: A10 J15 J16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
Note: DOI: 10.1257/jep.30.4.221
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (205)

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