Gender Relations and Economics

Alyssa Schneebaum
Vienna University of Economics and Business, 2019
Level: beginner
Perspectives: Feminist Economics, Other
Topic: Labour & Care, Macroeconomics, Race & Gender, Reflection of Economics
Format: Syllabus

Exploring Economics for Teachers

 Exploring Economics collects course descriptions, syllabi and slides so that lecturers can share ressources and innovate their teaching.

Share your Syllabus            Find more Teaching Material

 

Gender Relations and Economics

This syllabus was originally taught at University of Vienna of University of Economics and Business Summer Semester 2019.
Instructor: Alyssa Schneebaum 

Course Summary

This course introduces students to the relevance of gender relations in economics as a discipline and in economic processes and outcomes. 

The course covers three main components of gender in economics and the economy: (1) the gendered nature of the construction and reproduction of economic theory and thought; (2) the relevance and role of gender in economic decision-making; and (3) differences in economic outcomes based on gender. We will touch on the relevance of gender and gender relations in at least each of the following topics: economic theory; the history of economic thought; human capital accumulation; labor market discrimination; macroeconomic policy, including gender budgeting; household economics; basic econometrics; and economic crises. Along with mastering the content of the class, students will be encouraged to develop their general academic skills. On the first day of class, the instructor will review the most important aspects of academic writing. A central goal of the course is for students to develop their critical thinking and writing skills, and their ability to present their (written and verbal) academic work in a clear, convincing, and appropriate fashion. These goals will be highlighted throughout the course, and students will be graded in part on their improvement in this regard. The response papers are the best means for students to practice honing their academic thinking and writing skills. The class will meet once per week. Students are required to attend class. Class meetings will consist of lectures by the instructor, short readings, videos, class discussion, and group work. This course provides a thorough overview of the state of research and central issues in economic analyses of gender. The students will develop an understanding of the basic relationships between economics and gender relations, and the (re)production of these relationships. Students are encouraged to think independently about how gender works and matters in economic processes and outcomes.

Assignments and Assessment

Attendance

Attendance and participation are an important part of the course. Participation points will be distributed immediately following class. Students are responsible for all course material, even if they have missed a class. Twice in the semester, students should briefly and informally share with the class something that they have come across that is relevant for the class. This can be a song, a newspaper article, a viral tweet, a political campaign, a video... honestly, whatever. The main idea is that you explain how this thing is connected to concepts and ideas we are discussing in the course and how you understand this thing differently now that you are taking the course.

Response Papers

 Students can write three response papers to weekly readings throughout the semester. The reading for each class should be completed before the class meets. A response paper on a particular reading is due on the day that we discuss the reading in class (the day it is listed below). Response papers must be submitted in class. No late assignments will be accepted for any reason. If your essays run longer than one piece of paper (which they should not), please make the world a better place by stapling your pages together.Here is the grading system for response papers. They should:

  •  correctly and clearly describe what the text is about. This is a 3-4 sentence summary of the main questions, goals, methods, and conclusions of the text.
  •  succinctly and clearly discuss the single most interesting idea or concept introduced in the text, and explains why exactly it is so compelling.
  •  thoroughly discuss what is missing from the text, or how it could be improved. In the first case, the student explains exactly why this missing piece is important and how it would change the analysis; in the second case, the student provides his/her own suggestions for improvement. Keep in mind that the critique should be based on the context of the goals of the paper!
  •  include concepts and ideas discussed in the course and/or from previous readings.
  •  correctly cite the text under discussion.
  •  meet the formal requirements for correct spelling, punctuation, and length.

Final Essay

Students will write individual essays in which they reflect on their own education in economics. The essay should explain a concept or model that the student has learned in another economics class, and then extend, edit, and/or respecify the concept or model to more adequately account for gender relations. There are no formal requirements regarding the length of this essay. Papers of differing lengths can be equally good! Remember to make each paragraph, each sentence, and each word contribute to your argument. The essay should include reference to academic literature.

Course Overview

Schedule of topics covered and mandatory readings

Session 1 Introduction and overview of the course

  • Course structure; expectations and requirements; goals
  • Foundations of academic work

Session 2 Gender in Economics (the discipline)

  • Lundberg, Shelly and Jenna Stearns (2019). “Women in Economics: Stalled Progress.” Journal of Economic Perspectives 33(1): 3-22.

Session 3 Classical Feminist Economics

  • Nelson, Julie A. (1995). “Feminism and Economics.” Journal of Economic Perspectives 9(2): 131-148.

Session 4 Identity and economics

  • Akerlof, George A. and Rachel E. Kranton (2000). “Economics and Identity.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 115(3): 715-753.

Session 5 Why is gender an economic issue? Why is economics a gender issue?

  • Podcast: Hidden Brain. “Nature, Nurture, And Our Evolving Debates About Gender.” https://www.npr.org/2018/11/19/669192536/naturenurture- and-our-evolving-debates-about-gender

Session 6 Gender in the Labor Market I

  • Fortin, Nicole M. (2005). “Gender Role Attitudes and the Labour-Market Outcomes of Women Across OECD Countries.” Oxford Review of Economic Policy 21(3): 416-438.

Session 7 Gender in the Labor Market II

  • Polachek, Solomon W. (1995). “Human Capital and the Gender Earnings Gap: A Response to Feminist Critiques.” In Edith Kuiper and Jolande Sap (Eds.), Out of the Margin: Feminist Perspectives on Economics (pp. 61-79). London and New York: Routledge.

Session 8 Gender in the Household: Housework, care work, and decision making

  • Ironmonger, Duncan (1996). “Counting Outputs, Capital Inputs, and Caring Labor: Estimating Gross Household Product.” Feminist Economics 2(3): 37-64.
  • Kleven, Henrik et al. (2019). “Child Penalties Across Countries: Evidence and Explanations.” Paper Prepared for American Economic Association Papers and Proceedings, available at https://www.henrikkleven.com/uploads/3/7/3/1/37310663/klevenetal_aea-pp_2019.pdf

Session 9 Gender and Macroeconomics I: Gender and Development; Gender Budgeting

  • Mammen, Kristin and Christina Paxson (2000). “Women’s Work and Economic Development.” Journal of Economic Perspectives 14(4): 141-164.

Session 10 Gender and Macroeconomics II: Gender and Globalization

  • Lennon, Carolina and Alyssa Schneebaum (2019). “Globalization and Gender Equality: An International Firm-Level Analysis.” Working Paper 

Session 11 Flexible date 

  • Reading: van der Velde, Lucas, Joanna Tyrowicz, and Joanna Siwinska (2015). “Language and (the estimates of) the gender wage gap.” Economics Letters 136: 165-170.
  • Davis, Lewis and Megan Reynolds (2018). “Gendered language and the educational gender gap.” Economics Letters 168: 46-48.

 Stay tuned!

Subscribe to our newsletter to learn about new debates, conferences and writing workshops.

Subscribe!

Tags: discrimination | economic crisis | economic thought | feminism | gender | gender budgeting | gender inequality | gender regimes | history of economic thought | human capital | labour | social construction | syllabus | teaching | teaching material
The objective of the course is to explore the main strengths and weaknesses of orthodox and heterodox paradigms within development economics.
2019
Level: beginner
Issues in Development Economics
Hannah Bargawi
SOAS University of London
The goal of the class is to acquire familiarity with recently-published research in alternative macroeconomics with a focus on the distribution of income and wealth, cyclical growth models, and technical change.
2021
Level: beginner
Theory Seminar Macro-Distribution
Daniele Tavani
Exploring Economics
Cet interview donne la parole à Jean-François Ponsot, l'un des coordinateurs de l'ouvrage "L'économie post-keynésienne. Histoire, théories et politiques" (Seuil, 2018), première synthèse en français sur le post-keynésianisme. Jean-François Ponsot revient d'abord sur les apports des post-keynésiens, notamment sur leur conception du chômage et de la relance économique. Il analyse ensuite la difficulté pour les théories hétérodoxes à s'installer dans le paysage théorique malgré la crise financière de 2007. Enfin, il explique en quoi les fondements du post-keynésianisme sont plus progressistes que populistes.
2019
Level: beginner
L'économie post-keynésienne
Thibault Lieurade, Jean-François Ponsot
Xerfi Canal
The sum of squares and degree of freedom calculation from the previous videos are put into a ratio to calculate the F Value, on whose basis the null hypothesis is confirmed or rejected. If variance is higher between samples than within the null hypothesis is more likely to be rejected. The results of a numerical example are interpreted more abstractly and then tested with regards to a confidence interval and the corresponding F table.
2012
Level: beginner
ANOVA 3: Hypothesis test with F-statistic
 
Khan Academy
This paper attempts to clarify how the European economic crisis from 2007 onwards can be understood from the perspective of a Marxian monetary theory of value that emphasizes intrinsic, structural flaws regarding capitalist reproduction. Chapter two provides an empirical description of the European economic crisis, which to some extent already reflects the structural theoretical framework presented in chapter three. Regarding the theoretical framework Michael Heinrich's interpretation of 'the' Marxian monetary theory of value will be presented. Heinrich identifies connections between production and realization, between profit and interest rate as well as between industrial and fictitious capital, which represent contradictory tendencies for which capitalism does not have simple balancing processes. In the context of a discussion of 'structural logical aspects' of Marx's Critique of the Political Economy, explanatory deficits of Heinrich's approach are analyzed. In the following, it is argued that Fred Moseley's view of these 'structural logical aspects' allows empirical 'applications' of Marxian monetary theories of value. It is concluded that a Marxian monetary theory of value, with the characteristics of expansive capital accumulation and its limitations, facilitates a structural analysis of the European economic crisis from 2007 onwards. In this line of argument, expansive production patterns are expressed, among other things, in global restructuring processes, while consumption limitations are mitigated by expansive financial markets and shifts in ex-port destinations.
2019
Level: expert
The European economic crisis from 2007 onwards in the context of a global crisis of over-production of capital - a Marxian monetary theory of value interpretation
Sascha Gander
Institute for International Political Economy Berlin
Adam Smith, der Begründer der Nationalökonomie, hat in der ‚Theory of Moral Sentiments‘ – basierend auf Ideen von David Hume - das Bild einer moralischen Person entworfen. Diese gewinnt ihre Moralität dadurch, dass sie andauernd Imaginationen über andere und über sich selbst unternimmt. Dieses Menschenbild weist viele Implikationen für die Wirtschaftstheorie auf. Es geriet in der Folgezeit in der Ökonomie rasch in Vergessenheit. Von Smith ausgehend kann die Geschichte der ökonomischen Theorien als Verlust von Bildlichkeit und der Bedeutung von Imaginationen für wirtschaftliches Handeln verstanden werden. Dies wird in einem knappen Überblick über einige Aspekte der Theoriegeschichte geschildert.
2016
Level: advanced
Imaginative Grundlagen bei Adam Smith: Aspekte von Bildlichkeit und ihrem Verlust in der Geschichte der Ökonomie
Walter Otto Ötsch
Institute für Ökonomie und Philosophie Cusanus Hochschule
Die Rolle des Gleichgewichtskonzepts in der mikroökonomischen Ausbildung Claudius Gräbner Quelle: van Treeck, Till, and Janina Urban. Wirtschaft neu denken: Blinde Flecken in der Lehrbuchökonomie. iRights Media, 2016. Das Buch kann hier bestellt werden: http://irights-media.de/publikationen/wirtschaft-neu-denken/.   Rezensierte Bücher: Pindyck, R.S./Rubinfield, D.L. (2013): Mikroökonomie, 8. Auflage, München: Pearson, 1013 Seiten. Im Folgenden …
2016
Level: beginner
Die Rolle des Gleichgewichtskonzepts in der mikroökonomischen Ausbildung
Claudius Gräbner
Wirtschaft neu denken: Blinde Flecken in der Lehrbuchökonomie
This chapter by the Centre of Economy Studies provides a map through the complex jungle of economic theories. It provides key insights and ideas for thirteen core topics in economics, organised by selecting the most relevant theoretical approaches per topic and contrasting them with each other.
2021
Level: beginner
Pragmatic Pluralism
Sam de Muijnck and Joris Tieleman
Economy Studies

Donate

This project is brought to you by the Network for Pluralist Economics (Netzwerk Plurale Ökonomik e.V.).  It is committed to diversity and independence and is dependent on donations from people like you. Regular or one-off donations would be greatly appreciated.

 

Donate