Scholarly Comments on Academic Economics

On Gender Balance in the Economics Profession

by

*Ann Mari May* is Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, member of the Women’s Studies faculty, and holds a courtesy appointment in the History Department. She is an award winning teacher and member of the _Academy of Dist

Abstract

This paper contends that women tend to eschew the economics profession due to institutional barriers and that women tend to identify themselves with professions less obtuse than economics. Furthermore this paper suggests that social pressures foster perceptions that appropriate fields of thought exist for women reinforcing the idea of appropriate academic fields for women.