Diversifying the Social Sciences: The Women in Economics Working Group
This seminar series highlights the work of women in Economics in the Columbia community. Economics has a well-known gender problem: fewer than 30% of economics majors in the USA and the UK are women (Zarghamee, 2017; Mumford, 2014). This gender imbalance is present throughout the profession—according to the American Economic Association, in 2013, only 22% of tenured and tenure track faculty were women. To help address these issues and facilitate the success of women in Economics, we have begun a working group that allows women from across the NYC/Northeast area to have a space to meet, discuss research, present work in progress, and receive constructive feedback in an environment that allows junior and senior scholars to interact. The group welcomes all women faculty doing research in applied microeconomics topics. Because it is be a coordinated effort between junior and senior faculty, the seminar provides crucial mentoring to help with the longer-run success of women economists in the Columbia community. In addition, we are optimistic that it will help us with future efforts to recruit women to our campus.