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Do Men and Women Economists Choose the Same Research Fields?: Evidence From Top 50 Departments

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  • Dolado, Juan J
  • Felgueroso, Florentino
  • Almunia, Miguel

Abstract

This paper describes the gender distribution of research fields chosen by the faculty members in the top 50 Economics departments, according to the rankings available on the Econphd.net website. We document that women are unevenly distributed across fields and test some behavioural implications from theories underlying such disparities. Our main findings are that the probability that a woman chooses a given field is positively related to the share of women in that field (path-dependence), and that the share of women in a field at a given department increases with the sizes of the department and field, while it decreases with their average quality. However, these patterns seem to be changing for younger female faculty members. Further, by using Ph.D. cohorts, we document how gender segregation across fields has evolved over the last four decades.

Suggested Citation

  • Dolado, Juan J & Felgueroso, Florentino & Almunia, Miguel, 2005. "Do Men and Women Economists Choose the Same Research Fields?: Evidence From Top 50 Departments," CEPR Discussion Papers 5421, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:5421
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    Cited by:

    1. Corbella i Domenech, Teresa & Domingo Vernis, Misericòrdia, 2010. "Gender gap index in Spain by regions," Working Papers 2072/148478, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Department of Economics.
    2. Zacchia, Giulia, 2016. "Segregation or homologation? Gender differences in recent Italian economic thought," MPRA Paper 72279, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Jevin D West & Jennifer Jacquet & Molly M King & Shelley J Correll & Carl T Bergstrom, 2013. "The Role of Gender in Scholarly Authorship," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(7), pages 1-6, July.
    4. Hale, Galina & Regev, Tali, 2014. "Gender ratios at top PhD programs in economics," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 55-70.
    5. Marcella Corsi & Giulia Zacchia, 2014. "Women Economists in Italy: A Bibliometric Analysis of their Scientific Production in the Past Decade," Working Papers CEB 14-008, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    6. Susan Offutt & Jill McCluskey, 2022. "How women saved agricultural economics," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 44(1), pages 4-22, March.
    7. Marcella Corsi & Carlo D'Ippoliti & Giulia Zacchia, 2017. "Gendered careers: women economists in Italy," Working Papers CEB 17-003, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    8. Anne Boschini & Anna Sjögren, 2007. "Is Team Formation Gender Neutral? Evidence from Coauthorship Patterns," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 25(2), pages 325-365.
    9. Natalia Zinovyeva & Manuel F. Bagues, 2010. "Does gender matter for academic promotion? Evidence from a randomized natural experiment," Working Papers 2010-15, FEDEA.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Men and women economists; Research fields; Gender segregation; Path dependence; Tobit and probit models;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • A11 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Role of Economics; Role of Economists
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J70 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - General

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