King's College London

This piece has been developed by Dilasha, a year 12 student studying A-Level Economics, Maths and Further Maths. 

Dilasha undertook work experience within I-LEAD: Centre for Innovation, Leadership, Education and Development at King’s Business School where she is work shadowing Professor Denise Hawkes, one of the co-chairs of the RES D&I Network. This is her review of the Special Session 9: A Conversation About Diversity: Priorities, Tools and the Economics Pipeline

At this year’s Royal Economic Society Conference Special Sesson by the Standards of Conduct Committee and RES Diversity & Inclusion, I was enlightened to learn more about gender inequality in the Economics field where there is a significant underrepresentation of women. As well as a gender imbalance, there is also a significant gap in underrepresented groups that are of lower socioeconomic status or of certain ethnic groups compared to the dominating white males who are from a privileged background.

A statistic that surprised me was that only 35% of UK economics undergraduates are women consequently from the stereotype that Economics is a male, competitive curriculum which makes it appear off-putting to female students. Since A level economics is not widely accessible and only offered in selective schools, this creates an even bigger barrier for women in the Economics field if there is only limited access to those who are able to study it.

For the Culture Survey Focus Group section, I noted down three significant factors that impact the career progression of women. The first factor was that rather than challenges faced by women were shaped by current systems/general expectations rather than being shaped by discrimination. A general expectation for example is that women are more suited to nursing rather than Economics or STEM subjects. Another factor was the structural barriers such as the pressure for a linear career progression and limited flexibility for women who are not always available because of household responsibilities. There is a constant pressure for a “linear career path” such as going from PhD to Post doc where there is limited breaks or time off. For women who may need maternal leave or family responsibilities, there is lack of funding as well as making them seem “less visible” compared to their male counterparts who are more available to work outside hours. Lastly, the third factor was the culture where informal practices such as visibility/networking influence your career success.

Often, women have significantly more responsibilities outside of work than men which will make them unable to work as long or attend every event so these responsibilities can create a barrier for women to move up the ladder as easily as men. Moreover, for international students they face unequal opportunities for networking practices/experiences by their supervisors because of their limited visas. Additionally, for the seminar culture the speakers are male dominated and students in the focus group mentioned how there was unfair gender treatment as women were questioned more intensively after seminars/presentations than the males in the class.

To combat this, the RES have developed a list of solutions to fix these problems with one of them being to develop a practical guidance for inclusive academic practice. This will prioritise areas such as seminar conduct where every student is given equal opportunities instead of women being questioned more intensively. Inclusive networking practices will also be prioritised such as remote networking for female workers who are less available outside of working hours or an increase in networking opportunities for international students.

Another solution is to target support for the leadership roles in cultures. In the report for the RES Culture Survey Focus Groups, the culture in the work dynamic was seen as strongly influenced by “local leadership” which was a positive for some but a drawback for others as the culture is shaped by the priorities of the leaders. Targeted resources (RES culture toolkit) for Heads of Department can help improve a more diverse and inclusive environment with resources/guidance perhaps on the elimination of bias and the need for diversity in the recruitment process.

Moreover, RES activities such as conferences/networking events can promote inclusive practice to strive for equal representation of women as well as ethnic minorities. Conferences about the need for diversity in Economics can spread awareness and influence more people to spread this message such as the Discover Economics Page which significantly reaches 15–17-year-olds who are on the way to pursue Economics at degree level. Strengthening mentoring and informal support provision can also create an inclusive, fair environment.

In conclusion, after reviewing this session I have developed a passion to spread the message on the need for diversity in the Economics field. This will not only benefit the underrepresented groups such as women or the ethnic minority, but this will also positively impact society if we have more diversity of thoughts in the discipline. As an aspiring economics undergraduate, I look forward to joining a community that is looking to develop a more diverse economics community.