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Women and Economics Workshops Run by Gary Becker and Jacob Mincer at Columbia University and the University of Chicago

Author

Listed:
  • Andrea Beller

    (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)

  • Shoshana Grossbard

    (San Diego State University)

  • Ana Fava

    (Federal University of ABC)

  • Marouane Idmansour

    (Ecole Nationale de Commerce et de Gestion)

Abstract

In the period 1960-1980 Gary Becker founded workshops for graduate students in economics, first the Labor Workshop at Columbia University and then the Applications of Economics Workshop at the University of Chicago. The workshops fostered novel applications of economics dealing with labor, consumption, household production, household formation, human capital, crime and politics. We document the high proportion of women in these workshops, comparing (1) Columbia to Chicago, (2) the Columbia Labor Workshop over various periods, under the leadership of Becker, Mincer, or both, and (3) the Becker-founded workshops to other workshops at Columbia. We estimate regressions of the odds that a PhD was awarded to a woman for students at Columbia or Chicago who graduated between 1960 and 1980, as a function of whether and when the student participated in a Becker-founded workshop. Tentative explanations are offered for inter-university and period variation in odds that graduates were women. In addition, we compare gender ratios of graduates from Columbia and Chicago, where Becker-founded workshops were available during all or part of the period, with that of students at universities located nearby, NYU and Northwestern, where Becker did not found workshops.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrea Beller & Shoshana Grossbard & Ana Fava & Marouane Idmansour, 2021. "Women and Economics Workshops Run by Gary Becker and Jacob Mincer at Columbia University and the University of Chicago," Working Papers 2021-057, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    • Handle: RePEc:hka:wpaper:2021-057
    DOI: 10.1007/s10834-023-09941-9
    Note: FI
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    File URL: http://humcap.uchicago.edu/RePEc/hka/wpaper/Beller_Grossbard_Fava_etal_2021_women-economics-workshops-becker-mincer.pdf
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    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10834-023-09941-9
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Teixeira, Pedro N., 2016. "Jacob Mincer: The Founding Father of Modern Labor Economics," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198779940, Decembrie.
    2. Roger E. Backhouse & Steven G. Medema, 2009. "Retrospectives: On the Definition of Economics," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 23(1), pages 221-233, Winter.
    3. James J. Heckman, 2006. "Some Brief Remarks on the Life and Work of Jacob Mincer," Springer Books, in: Shoshana Grossbard (ed.), Jacob Mincer A Pioneer of Modern Labor Economics, chapter 1, pages 3-5, Springer.
    4. Victor R. Fuchs, 2018. "Nobel Laureate Gary S. Becker: Ideas About Facts," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Health Economics and Policy Selected Writings by Victor Fuchs, chapter 46, pages 579-589, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    5. Barbara R. Bergmann, 1996. "Becker’s Theory of the Family: Preposterous Conclusions," Challenge, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(2), pages 9-12, March.
    6. Shoshana Grossbard & Tansel Yilmazer & Lingrui Zhang, 2021. "The gender gap in citations of articles published in two demographic economics journals," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 19(3), pages 677-697, September.
    7. Marc Nerlove, 1974. "Household and Economy: Toward a New Theory of Population and Economic Growth," NBER Chapters, in: Marriage, Family, Human Capital, and Fertility, pages 200-221, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Shoshana Grossbard (ed.), 2006. "Jacob Mincer A Pioneer of Modern Labor Economics," Springer Books, Springer, number 978-0-387-29175-8, September.
    9. Jacob Mincer, 1962. "Labor Force Participation of Married Women: A Study of Labor Supply," NBER Chapters, in: Aspects of Labor Economics, pages 63-105, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Shoshana Grossbard, 2006. "The New Home Economics at Columbia and Chicago," Springer Books, in: Shoshana Grossbard (ed.), Jacob Mincer A Pioneer of Modern Labor Economics, chapter 7, pages 37-49, Springer.
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    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    graduate education; graduation rates; gender ratios in economics;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • A23 - General Economics and Teaching - - Economic Education and Teaching of Economics - - - Graduate
    • A14 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Sociology of Economics
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination

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