Women smashed the glass ceiling in economics. Now they're worried about what comes next
Women are leading Australia's top economic institutions for the first time. But senior female economists are warning we face a "distressing" future of less diversity, not more.
Dani Wood will become the first female chair of the Productivity Commission on Monday, the latest high profile appointment of a woman into one of the country's most important economic policy positions. But even she admits to harbouring some fears this might be as good as it gets for gender diversity in economics.
This concern is likely to give some readers a touch of whiplash. Australia has undoubtedly just reached an all-time high for women in the industry considering Wood’s appointment and a range of other high-profile jobs have been snapped up by talented women, including the Reserve Bank’s Michele Bullock, Westpac’s chief economist Luci Ellis, the ACCC’s chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb and Jenny Wilkinson at the Department of Finance among many others. The trend is global too.
But a growing number of female economists are raising the alarm about what the future of gender equality, and diversity more broadly, might look like for economics and policy development. In short, they’re worried we may have hit “peak women” in economics. And they've told Capital Brief they think there’s a risk the gender gap in the profession could actually widen from here.
“Up until quite recently there was very much a glass ceiling, we didn’t see women making it to the top of the profession. I’ve seen some of those ceilings smashed, which is fantastic,” Wood says.
