Women in economics departments in Australian universities: is there still a gender imbalance?

Economic Papers (Economic Society of Australia), Sept, 2004 by Sandra Hopkins

Women comprise 21 per cent of academics in departments of Economics in Australian universities and their representation declines with seniority. The percentage of female students in Economics courses is 42, which is considerably greater than the percentage or female staff. This paper presents some data on the gender balance in Australian Economics departments. It is found that gender inequity still exists in Economics departments, but there has been an improvement in the number of women at the senior level over the last four years. Reasons for the gender imbalance are discussed.

Keywords: Gender balance, University Economics departments

JEL codes: A14, J16

1 Introduction

Twenty-one per cent of academics in Australian Economics departments are women. There are four women professors in a total Economies staff of 510 in Australian universities. The discipline rates poorly compared with the remainder of the university sector where 38 percent of all academics are women.

This paper presents some data on the gender balance in Australian Economics departments and discusses some of the reasons for the gender imbalance. Amongst other things, this paper updates the survey of Mumford (2000). In so doing it seeks to answer the questions of whether there is still a gender imbalance in Economics departments and whether there has been any improvement in the last four years.

The issue is one of critical importance for the future of the discipline. In spite of the discipline's pre-eminent and traditional role as a field of study and body of research, there is a declining number of students graduating with Economics degrees. Economics has over the last 15 years faced considerable competition from newer business disciplines such as Finance and Marketing. This decline, which has also been evident in the US, UK, and Canada, has been attributed, amongst other things, to the theoretical and mathematical rigour of the discipline and an unwillingness to adapt and broaden the discipline in response to changes in the student expectations and competencies.

Australian women economists are not alone in their under-representation in university Economics departments. In the UK, Booth et al. (2000) reported that 32 percent of students enrolled in research and PhD programs in Economics are women, but only 17 per cent of full-time permanent lecturers are women. In the US, the American Economic Association's Committee on the Status of Women in the Economics Profession (2003) reports that only 11 per cent of all faculty members at PhD-granting universities are women, yet 27 per cent of new PhD graduates are women. Moreover, women hold less than 10 percent of full professor positions in spite of their share of associate professor positions being between 13 and 17 per cent for the past nine years.

The Economic Society of Australia has taken a step similar to that of the UK, Canadian, and US professional bodies by establishing the Committee for Women in Economics (see http://www.ecosoc.org.au/women/). The Committee has a number of objectives, including monitoring the status of women in the profession. This paper represents a preliminary step on behalf of the committee in documenting the issue of the under-representation of women in university Economics departments.

2 Is There Still a Gender Imbalance in Economics?

What is meant by gender imbalance in Economics? The Department of Employment, Education and Training (1990, quoted in Carrington and Pratt, 2003) suggested that equity in the university student population should be interpreted as meaning that the balance of the student population should reflect the composition of society as a whole. Clearly, the proportion of women in academic positions in Economics at 21 per cent does not reflect the composition of society. And, whilst the proportion of female students enrolled in Economics courses is 41.5 per cent and therefore closer to the composition of the population (see Table 1), there is still a considerable gap between the proportion of female students and that of female academics.

The percentage of female students enrolled in PhD Economics programs is 31 per cent. This is of concern for the discipline, as PhD enrolment or completion is a requirement for entry to academia. The completion rates for undergraduate and postgraduate students, males and females, are close to those for enrolments.

The Department of Employment, Science and Training (DEST) collate and publish data on the total numbers of men and women in Economics departments and the overall university sector by academic classification each year. These data are presented in Table 2. A glance at Table 2 provides quick confirmation of the gender imbalance in Economics, as 21 per cent of the academic workforce is women, whereas for the university sector as a whole, the percentage of female academics is 38.

Table 3 shows the vertical gender differences for women and men. Women in Economics departments, and overall, tend to be concentrated at the bottom of the academic hierarchy. In Economics departments, the largest concentration of women is in the lecturer grade. The largest concentration of men is in the senior lecturer position. Economics has a higher percentage of men in the senior positions of professor and associate professor than the university sector as a whole. This probably reflects the strong research culture of Economics and the related success at attracting competitive funding and publishing. The higher than average success of men in Economics is not shared by the women. The percentage of women in Economics in each of the academic classifications is remarkably close to that of the university sector as a whole.