How economics is trying to fix its gender problem

FEMALE ECONOMISTS are rare. So every year, after the meeting of the American Economic Association (AEA), a group flock together. On January 6th, before the junior women seeking mentoring arrived, their seniors were asked to keep the tone positive, and to save discussion of their worst experiences of sexism for later, in the bar. What followed included inspiration (when submitting papers, aim high) and tips on how to get published, get tenure and work out who is likely to help your career.

The scheme is just one of a growing number aimed at raising the share of women among academic economists. Others were on display at the AEA conference, including some that drew on economists’ own intellectual toolkit. Donna Ginther of the University of Kansas, for example, presented results showing that participation in the mentoring workshop extends a woman’s network of collaborators, and that she thus publishes more. Another study cited at the conference, by Leah Boustan and Andrew Langan of Princeton University, finds that departments with more female PhD students tend to have a greater awareness of gender bias and less of the aggressive questioning in seminars for which economics is notorious.