"Women made up 42 percent of medical school graduates in 1996-97, 46 percent of first-year law students in 1998 were women, and women are likewise represented in M.B.A. programs across the country. But only 20 percent of Ph.D.s in economics are women. Why?"
On May 13-14, 1999, the Minnesota Public Radio Civic Journalism Initiative, Sound Money, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis' The Region magazine sponsored a national summit on Economic Literacy. During the summit a caucus met to discuss issues surrounding women in economics. The central question raised was: Why are there so few women going for graduate degrees in economics?
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| Claudia Parliament, president of the Minnesota Council on Economic Education and cochair of the Women's Caucus, makes a point during the discussion. |
"You go for the money, power or action."
The ideas of why women were underrepresented varied from the personal to the systemic. Erica Whittlinger, of Whittlinger Capital Management and commentator on MPR's Erica Whittlinger (right) shares an idea at the Women's Caucus.
Sound Money, said she was encouraged to go to graduate school in economics, but the choices were to teach or work for the government. Neither appealed to her because she follows the credo: "You go for the money, power or action."
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| Erica Whittlinger (right) shares an idea at the Women's Caucus. |
Another woman said, "You cannot be what you don't dream of becoming - law and medicine are seen as more exciting - people don't dream of becoming economists." In the end, caucus participants agreed on the following reasons for women's lack of participation in theoretical economics:
- The emphasis on mathematics and the propensity for girls to "fall out" of math studies as they progress through school.
- Lack of role models.
- Economics is too narrowly defined. It doesn't resonate, doesn't have real-world appeal.
Economic theory suffers
Claudia Parliament, president of the Minnesota Council on Economic Education, said more minorities and women are needed in economics because:
- Current solutions lack their insights and skill sets.
- Their input could make policies more effective. Women and minorities do not necessarily experience the world or approach problems with the same paradigm as white males.
- Issues that are important to minorities and women often do not get on the agenda.
