Women are under-represented in economics globally

They occupy fewer top positions at leading economics institutions than men, and are more likely to leave the profession early.

Brittney J. Miller

Nature | April 14, 2022

An all-male panel at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum in Russia in 2018.Credit: Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg via Getty

Women occupy roughly one in three junior academic positions in economics and just one in four senior positions, according to an analysis of gender equality at the field’s top research institutions.

Most previous surveys examining equality in economics have focused on individual countries. Emmanuelle Auriol, an economist at the Toulouse School of Economics in France, and her colleagues compared gender representation around much of the world, although their data set includes few institutions in Africa or southeast Asia. The findings are published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences¹ this month.

Climate crisis could reverse progress in achieving gender equality

by Nitya Rao

The Conversation | December 03, 2019

People who directly depend on the natural world for their livelihoods, like farmers and fishers, will be among the greatest victims of the climate crisis. In vulnerable hotspots, such as the arid lands of Kenya and Ethiopia, farming communities are already struggling with droughts and water scarcity that kill their cattle and threaten their very survival. The glacial-fed river basins of the Himalayan mountains, or the deltas of Bangladesh, India and Ghana, are increasingly prone to floods, landslides and powerful cyclones.

As a result, men are often migrating further to keep their families going, looking for casual work in neighbouring towns or villages for a few days or weeks at a time, or to cities further away. Many try to return home when they can, with whatever they have earned. But during their absence, the entire burden of maintaining the family is on women.

Promoting gender equality a ‘crucial contribution’ in effort to restore, protect our planet’s oceans

UN News | June 08, 2019

Arne Hoel/World Bank

Oceans and seas are home to vast biodiversity. A woman in Entebbe, is photographed on the shores of Lake Victoria, Uganda.

Women are engaged in all aspects of interaction with our ocean, yet their voices are often missing at the decision-making level, the head of the United Nations cultural agency said on World Oceans Day, emphasizing that “we must ensure diversity and gender inclusiveness at all levels” to set a balanced course for humanity and foster innovative solutions for the ocean.

“We need to empower each and every citizen to take care of the ocean and enable all women to play transformative and ambitious roles in understanding, exploring, protecting and sustainably managing our ocean”, said Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO, pointing out that this year’s “special edition” of World Oceans Day links the themes of gender equality and ocean preservation.

International Women’s Day: Where are the men of integrity?

by Francis Mupazviriho

Pambazuka News | March 08, 2019

Design source: Eastside Baptist Church – Greeneville TN

Reflecting on vital roles that women play in society, the author argues that our communities need men of integrity for the full realisation of gender equity and mutual respect. 

At the occasion of the International Women’s Day last year, I wrote about sexual harassment at the workplace, in a piece which drew much inspiration from Reason Wafawarova’s legendary piece entitled “Discrediting women oppression fallacious”, which appeared in The Herald some eight years ago.

620 KM Long Women’s Wall of Kerala Challenges Brahmanical Patriarchy

Countercurrents.org | January 01, 2019

About 3-5 million women formed a wall across Kerala to protect to protect Kerala’s renaissance values and for women empowerment. About three million women stood shoulder to shoulder across Kerala and formed 620 KM “wall” from Thiruvananthapuram to the northern district of Kasaragod. They also pledged to protec the renaissance values of Kerala. The wall was organised against the backdrop of the Supreme Court verdict on Sabarimala temple entry of menstruating women.

India: In Photos | A 620-km-Long Women’s Wall for Gender Equality in Kerala

The Wire | January 02, 2018

In a first, over 35 lakh women stood shoulder-to-shoulder across national highways in Kerala, creating a 620 km-long human ‘wall’ from the northern end of Kasaragod to the southern tip in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday, as part of a state-sponsored initiative to uphold gender equality.

The event comes days after thousands of devotees lit ‘Ayyappa Jyothis’ and lined up from Hosangadi in Kasaragod to Kanyakumari, vowing to protect the ‘customs and traditions’ of Sabarimala.

Daughters of the Revolution: Iranian Women Risk Arrest in Quest for Gender Equality

Iran’s young ‘daughters of the revolution; are protesting hijab laws and demanding equal rights, making them the ultimate symbol of female resistance on this International Women’s Day.

by Homa Hoodfar

The Wire | March 08, 2018

Thousands of Iranian women took to the streets to protest against the hijab law in Tehran in the spring of 1979. A women’s movement has recently taken hold in Iran. Credit: Hengameh Golestan

In the lead-up to March 8, I am sometimes asked whether we really still need an International Women’s Day (IWD). Though my greatest hope is to see a day when gender inequity and gender injustice are social artefacts of the past, that day feels nowhere near.