Illuminating Gender Inequality – The Big Win
On October 9, 2023, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences honored the prestigious Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2023, commonly known as the Nobel Prize, to Prof. Claudia Goldin of Harvard University for her invaluable contribution to advancing our understanding of women’s labour market outcomes and the gender pay gap. This makes her only the third woman to win the Nobel Prize in economics and the first to win it unshared.
As we delve into the remarkable contributions of Prof. Goldin, it’s important to recognize how her groundbreaking research resonates with the core mission of the SAPIENS Network. SAPIENS, or Sustainability and Procurement in International, European, and National Systems, is a visionary initiative committed to tackling contemporary social and environmental challenges through public procurement. This blog post explores the profound significance of Prof. Goldin’s work, aligning it with SAPIENS’ mission to foster interdisciplinary research, create a knowledge base, and address pressing issues such as gender disparities in the labor market.
Prof. Goldin’s Work
With more than 350 literary publications and 45700+ citations, Prof. Goldin is a leading researcher on gender inequality issues. Her most cardinal studies in the field have addressed the key drivers of gender differences in the labour market to provide the first comprehensive account of women’s earnings and labour market participation through the following topics:
● the history of women’s attempts to balance family and career
● coeducation in higher education
● the effects of the “Pill” on women’s choices regarding careers and marriages
● the social significance of women’s surnames after marriage
● the reasons why women now make up the majority of undergraduates
● the changing nature of the employment lifecycle
Overall, her research tracks the changes in labour market dynamics, reveals the causes of such changes, and analyzes the primary sources of the remaining gender gap.
Her Key Findings
According to Goldin, there exists a significant gender disparity in the global workforce, with women being both underrepresented and earning less than men. Instead of a straightforward upward trajectory, the participation of women in the labour market has followed a U-shaped curve over time. Initially, the entry of married women into the workforce declined during the transition from an agricultural to an industrial society in the early nineteenth century. However, with the expansion of the service industry in the early twentieth century, married women’s participation began to rise again. Goldin attributes this pattern to changing societal norms regarding women’s roles within the household and family, in addition to structural shifts.
Despite modernization, economic growth, and the increasing number of employed women in the twentieth century, the gender earnings gap remained remarkably persistent. Goldin posits that a critical factor contributing to this disparity lies at the early age at which educational decisions, which profoundly influence one’s lifelong career prospects, are made. When young women’s expectations are primarily shaped by the experiences of previous generations, such as their mothers, who often delayed their return to the workforce until their children were grown, progress toward gender pay equality is hindered.
Throughout the twentieth century, women’s educational attainment consistently outpaced men’s in most highincome countries. Goldin’s research showed that investments in education and skills are instrumental in reducing wage disparities and fostering economic growth. Goldin’s research has also shed light on the pivotal role played by the accessibility of the contraceptive pill in accelerating this transformation by offering women unprecedented opportunities for career planning and facilitating their pursuit of education and careers.
Goldin’s Contribution
Historically, differences in education and occupational segregation primarily explained the gender earnings gap. However, Goldin’s research has revealed a significant shift—the bulk of these earnings gap now exists between men and women in the same occupation. This disparity predominantly emerges with the birth of the first child, highlighting the profound impact of motherhood on lower wages and reduced career opportunities for women. Rather than penalizing women for choosing motherhood, there is a need for flexible work arrangements to reduce disparities. Goldin’s work has prompted discussions on workfamily balance, maternity leave policies, and the need for gender-neutral caregiving expectations at the workplace.
Conclusion
While it is illegal across much of the world for employers to discriminate based on gender, women still face significant shortfalls in pay compared to men, and Goldin’s work exposes the causes of this deeply rooted wage and labour market inequality between men and women. A long road awaits us to investigate all forms of gender inequalities in existence and to search for remedies for reducing this gap in all areas of the economy. However, Prof. Goldin’s work and its recognition with the Nobel Prize are a testament to the significance of this emerging field of research and the urgency of addressing gender inequalities in the labour market.
Studying Gender Inequality at SAPIENS
In line with the theme of Prof. Goldin’s work, at the SAPIENS Network, ESR 10, Dibya Rathi, researches Gender Smart Procurement Systems to understand the gender inequality issues prevalent in procurement, its antecedents and finding the possible remedies to reduce them. Currently her research interests are Short Supply Chains and Procurement, and the role of Inter-governmental organizations in increasing the participation of minority genders in public procurement.
References:
Websites –
https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/2023/press-release/
https://www.reuters.com/world/claudia-goldin-wins-2023-nobel-economics-prize-2023-10-09/
https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=XK_7TgUAAAAJ
https://scholar.harvard.edu/goldin/home
Articles –
Bertrand, Marianne, Claudia Goldin, and Lawrence F. Katz. “Dynamics of the gender gap for young professionals in the financial and corporate sectors.” American economic journal: applied economics 2.3 (2010): 228-255.
Goldin, Claudia. “The U-shaped female labor force function in economic development and economic history.” (1994).
Goldin, Claudia. “Understanding the gender gap: An economic history of American women.” Equal employment opportunity: labor market discrimination and public policy (1994): 17-26.
Goldin, Claudia, and Lawrence F. Katz. “The power of the pill: Oral contraceptives and women’s career and marriage decisions.” Journal of Political Economy 110.4 (2002): 730-770.
Goldin, Claudia. “The quiet revolution that transformed women’s employment, education, and family.” American Economic Review 96.2 (2006): 1-21.
Goldin, Claudia, Lawrence F. Katz, and Ilyana Kuziemko. “The homecoming of American college women: The reversal of the college gender gap.” Journal of Economic perspectives 20.4 (2006): 133-156.
Goldin, Claudia, and Lawrence F. Katz. The race between education and technology. harvard university press, (2009).
Goldin, Claudia. “A grand gender convergence: Its last chapter.” American economic review 104.4 (2014): 1091- 1119.
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