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Women in European academia before 1800—religion, marriage, and human capital

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  • David de la Croix
  • Mara Vitale

Abstract

We document the participation of women in European academia from the first universities to the eve of the Industrial Revolution. A total of 108 women taught at universities or were members of academies of arts and sciences. Most of them were active in Catholic southern Europe—an unexpected result. We conjecture that Protestantism left less room for women at the top of the distribution of human capital to exercise their talent. The percentage of ever-married female scholars is 79%, but a large fraction of them remained childless. Comparing them with 58,995 male scholars, we find that they were on average better.JEL codes: N33, Z12, I23, J16-->

Suggested Citation

  • David de la Croix & Mara Vitale, 2023. "Women in European academia before 1800—religion, marriage, and human capital," European Review of Economic History, European Historical Economics Society, vol. 27(4), pages 506-532.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:ereveh:v:27:y:2023:i:4:p:506-532.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/ereh/heac023
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    1. Sascha O. Becker & Ludger Woessmann, 2009. "Was Weber Wrong? A Human Capital Theory of Protestant Economic History," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 124(2), pages 531-596.
    2. Sandra Brée & David de la Croix, 2019. "Key forces behind the decline of fertility: lessons from childlessness in Rouen before the industrial revolution," Cliometrica, Springer;Cliometric Society (Association Francaise de Cliométrie), vol. 13(1), pages 25-54, January.
    3. David de la Croix & Eric B. Schneider & Jacob Weisdorf, 2019. "Childlessness, celibacy and net fertility in pre-industrial England: the middle-class evolutionary advantage," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 223-256, September.
    4. David De La Croix & Frédéric Docquier & Alice Fabre & Robert Stelter, 2019. "The Academic Market And The Rise Of Universities In Medieval And Early Modern Europe (1000-1800)," LIDAM Discussion Papers IRES 2019019, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES).
    5. Karlsson, Tobias & Kok, Joris & Perrin, Faustine, 2021. "The Historical Gender Gap Index: A Longitudinal and Spatial Assessment of Sweden, 1870-1990," Lund Papers in Economic History 217, Lund University, Department of Economic History.
    6. Kevin Lang & Jee-Yeon K. Lehmann, 2012. "Racial Discrimination in the Labor Market: Theory and Empirics," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 50(4), pages 959-1006, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. David De La Croix & Frédéric Docquier & Alice Fabre & Robert Stelter, 2019. "The Academic Market And The Rise Of Universities In Medieval And Early Modern Europe (1000-1800)," LIDAM Discussion Papers IRES 2019019, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES).
    2. Palma, Nuno & Reis, Jaime & Rodrigues, Lisbeth, 2023. "Historical gender discrimination does not explain comparative Western European development: evidence from Portugal, 1300-1900," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • N33 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - Europe: Pre-1913
    • Z12 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Religion
    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination

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