Pradeep Kumar Panda
Nearly 100 female economists alleged that a peer or colleague has sexually assaulted them. Nearly 200 say they were victims of attempted assaults. And hundreds say they were stalked or touched inappropriately, according to a far-reaching survey of the field.
The results, compiled by the American Economic Association, also reveal deep evidence of gender and racial discrimination within the field. Half of the women who responded to the survey said they had been treated unfairly because of their sex, compared to 3% of men.
Nearly half of these women said they had avoided speaking at conferences or seminars to guard against possible harassment or “disrespectful treatment.” Seven in 10 women said they felt their colleagues’ work was taken more seriously than their own.
More than 9,000 current and past members of the American Economic Association, both men and women, took part in the survey. And the results have jolted the group’s leaders, who announced several measures to combat harassment and discrimination.
The moves include the appointment of an ombudsman empowered to investigate complaints of misbehaviour by economists, and the threat of professional sanction — including the potential loss of prestigious awards — for economists who are found to violate a new anti-harassment code.
Former US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, who now heads the economic association, said he was “concerned and disturbed” over what the survey revealed.
The alienation is not limited to women. Among black economists surveyed, only 14% agreed with the statement that “people of my race/ethnicity are respected within the field.”
Gay and lesbian economists – and others who do not identify as heterosexual – were far more likely to report discrimination and disrespect in the field than heterosexual economists. Only 25 per cent agreed that “people of my sexual orientation are respected within the field.” Twenty per cent said they had been discriminated against on the basis of sexual orientation.
Eighty-five women reported they were physically assaulted by another economist, in many cases by a direct supervisor. More than one in five women said they had been subjected to unwanted sexual advance.
The profession is grappling with mounting evidence of its problems with issues of race and gender. Economics remains dominated by white men, even as women have made substantial gains in other science and engineering fields. And a growing body of research finds that women in economics face discrimination when it comes to hiring, publication and promotion.
The newly created ombudsman position is an attempt to address a structural challenge: Instances of harassment and abuse often cross institutional lines. In an open letter to the economic association’s leaders last year, a group of graduate students and research assistants called for a “discipline-wide reporting system” to document abuse.
The 47-question survey was sent late last year to more than 45,000 current and former members of the association. The 9,000 who completed it, including more than a quarter of current members, represented a high rate for a voluntary survey. About a third of the respondents were women, about a fifth were non-white, and about 4% identified themselves as gay or lesbian.
Economists cautioned that people could have been more likely to respond if they felt they had faced discrimination or harassment, and that as a result the survey might not be representative of the profession as a whole.
If anything, the survey probably understates the problems. Despite efforts to reach former members, it left out many people who left the profession after facing discrimination or harassment, or who decided against becoming economists at all.
The survey results also showed how harassment and discrimination ripple through the profession. A third of Black economists said they had “not applied for or taken a particular employment position” to avoid harassment or discrimination. Nearly half of women said they had not presented an idea or asked a question at a conference or at their school for the same reason.
In India, there are the glaring instances of rape and acid attacks, domestic abuse, workplace harassment, public safety and systemic exploitation. In June 2018, almost six years after the much publicised Nirbhaya case, the Thomson Reuters Foundation released a survey of global experts that concluded that India is the world’s most dangerous country for women.
It argued that ‘The world’s second-most populous nation, with 1.3 billion people, ranked as the most dangerous on three of the topic questions – the risk of sexual violence and harassment against women, the danger women face from cultural, tribal and traditional practices, and the country where women are most in danger of human trafficking including forced labour, sex slavery and domestic servitude.’
Gender parity can occur through bridging gaps in education, renegotiating gender roles, the gender division of labour and addressing biased attitudes. Women should be empowered to accelerate the achievement of the sustainable development goals and gender equality.