The gender gap in UK academic economics 1996-2018: progress, stagnation and retreat

Bateman, Victoria and Hengel, Erin ORCID: 0000-0002-2039-3521 (2023) The gender gap in UK academic economics 1996-2018: progress, stagnation and retreat. OEconomia, 13 (2). 163 - 200. ISSN 2113-5207

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Abstract

This article reports on women’s representation in UK economics over the last quarter century. While progress has been made, women in 2018 were only 32 percent of economics undergraduate students and 26 percent of academic economists. Our data also suggest several areas of stagnation and retreat. First, the percentage of female UK nationals studying economics is low and falling over time. Second, female economists are substantially more likely to be employed at lower academic ranks and in fixed-term—and generally lower status—teaching- and research-only positions. Third, the representation of women is especially low among ethnic minorities studying for an economics PhD. And finally, the percentage of economics professors with Asian ethnicity who are women has been falling over time, and at no point between 2012-2018 was a Black female professor of economics employed anywhere in the UK.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	https://journals.openedition.org/oeconomia/
Additional Information:	© 2023 Association Oeconomia.
Divisions:	Social Policy
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor
JEL classification:	J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J2 - Time Allocation, Work Behavior, and Employment Determination and Creation; Human Capital; Retirement > J24 - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I2 - Education > I23 - Higher Education Research Institutions J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J4 - Particular Labor Markets > J44 - Professional Labor Markets and Occupations A - General Economics and Teaching > A1 - General Economics > A11 - Role of Economics; Role of Economists; Market for Economists
Date Deposited:	20 Feb 2023 15:06
Last Modified:	17 Apr 2025 19:13
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/118205

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