女经济学家那些事儿

Women and economics

女性与经济学

Market power

市场支配力

How the economics profession should fix its gender problem

经济学专业应如何解决性别问题

At the heart of economics is a belief in the virtues of open competition as a way of using the resources you have in the most efficient way you can. Thanks to the power of that insight, economists routinely tell politicians how to run public policy and business people how to run their firms. Yet when it comes to its own house, academic economics could do more to observe the standards it applies to the rest of the world. In particular, it recruits too few women. Also, many of those who do work in the profession say they are treated unfairly and that their talents are not fully realized. As a result, economics has fewer good ideas than it should and suffers from a skewed viewpoint. It is time for the dismal science to improve its dismal record on gender.

经济学的核心是相信公开竞争的好处，即以最有效的方式利用所拥有的资源。由于拥有这种洞察力，经济学家经常告诉政客们如何管理公共政策，告诉商人们如何管理其公司。然而，就其自身而言，学术经济学需要做更多的事情，以达到其运用于世界其它领域的标准。尤其是，学术经济学领域招募的女性太少了。此外，许多从事这一行业的人表示，他们受到了不公正的对待，他们的才能没有得到充分的发挥。因此，经济学提供的好点子比其本来应该有的少，而且经济学领域受到了一种扭曲观点的困扰。是时候改善这门沉闷的科学在性别方面的不良记录了。

For decades relatively few women have participated in stem subjects: science, technology, engineering and maths. Economics belongs in this list. In the United States women make up only one in seven full professors and one in three doctoral candidates. There has been too little improvement in the past 20 years. And a survey by the American Economics Association (AEA) this week shows that many women who do become academic economists are treated badly.

几十年来，参与主要学科的女性相对较少，这些学科主要包括：科学、技术、工程和数学。经济学也位列其中。在美国，全职教授只有七分之一是女性，博士研究生只有三分之一是女性。过去二十年也鲜有提升。美国经济协会（AEA）本周的一项调查显示，许多女性经济学家受到了不公正的对待。

Only 20% of women who answered the AEA poll said that they are satisfied with the professional climate, compared with 40% of men. Some 48% of females said they have faced discrimination at work because of their sex, compared with 3% of male respondents. Writing about the survey results, Janet Yellen and Ben Bernanke, both former chairs of the Federal Reserve, and Olivier Blanchard, a former chief economist of the IMF, said that “many members of the profession have suffered harassment and discrimination during their careers, including both overt acts of abuse and more subtle forms of marginalization.”

在接受AEA调查的女性中，只有20%的人表示对目前的职业环境感到满意，而男性的这一比例为40%。约48%的女性表示，她们在工作中曾因性别而受到歧视，而男性受访者中这一比例仅为3%。美联储前主席珍妮特•耶伦和本•伯南克，以及国际货币基金组织前首席经济学家奥利维尔•布兰查德撰写了有关调查结果的文章，称“很多女性经济学家在其职业生涯中遭受骚扰和歧视，包括公开的虐待行为和更微妙的边缘化。”

To deal with its gender shortfall, economics needs two tools that it often uses to analyze and solve problems elsewhere: its ability to crunch data and its capacity to experiment. Take data first. The AEA study is commendable, but only a fifth of its 45,000 present and past members replied to its poll. More work is needed to establish why women are discouraged from becoming economists, or drop out, or are denied promotion.

为了解决性别差异问题，经济学需要两种其经常用来分析和解决其他领域问题的工具：处理数据的能力和实验能力。先看数据。AEA的研究是值得称赞的，但在其4.5万名现任和前任成员中，只有五分之一的人回复了调查。需要做更多的工作来确定为什么妇女不被鼓励成为经济学家，或辍学，或被拒绝升职。

More benchmarking is needed against other professions where women thrive. Better data are needed to capture how work by female economists is discriminated against. There is some evidence, for example, that they are held to higher standards than men in peer reviews and that they are given less credit for their co-writing than men. And economics needs to study how a lack of women skews its scholarly priorities, creating an intellectual opportunity cost. For instance, do economists obsess more about labor market conditions for men than for women? The more comprehensive the picture that emerges, the sooner and more easily action can be taken to change recruitment and to reform professional life.

其他女性活跃的职业需要更多基准来衡量。研究女性经济学家的工作如何受到歧视需要更有力的数据来支撑。例如，有一些证据表明，女性在同行评审中的标准比男性更高，但在合著方面得到的好评却比男性少。经济学需要研究缺乏女性是如何扭曲其学术重点，从而造成智力上的机会成本。例如，相比女性经济学家，男性经济学家是否更受劳动力市场状况困扰？数据覆盖的内容越全面，改变现有招聘、改革职业生活就越快，实行也更容易。

The other priority is for economists to experiment with new ideas, as the AEA is recommending. For a discipline that values dynamism, academic economics is often conservative, sticking with teaching methods, hiring procedures and social conventions that have been around for decades. The AEA survey reveals myriad subtle ways in which those who responded feel uncomfortable. For example 46% of women have not asked a question or presented an idea at conferences for fear of being treated unfairly, compared with 18% of men. Innovation is overdue. Seminars could be organized to ensure that all speakers get a fair chance. Job interviews need not typically happen in hotel rooms, a practice that men regard as harmless but which makes some women uncomfortable. The way that authors’ names are presented on papers could ensure that it is clear who has done the intellectual heavy lifting.

正如AEA建议的那样，经济学家的另一个处于优先级的任务是试验新想法。对于一个重视活力的学科来说，学术经济学往往是保守的，其坚持数十年来的教学方法、招聘程序和社会惯例。AEA的调查揭示了那些做出反应的人感到不舒服的无数微妙方式。例如，46%的女性因为害怕受到不公平待遇而没有在会议上提出问题或提出想法，而男性的这一比例为18%。早就需要改革了。可以通过举办研讨会，确保所有讲者获得公平的机会。工作面试也不需要在酒店房间里进行，在酒店房间面试这种做法在男性看来是无害的，但会让一些女性感到不舒服。论文中呈现作者姓名的方式，可以明确谁是其中完成智力重任的人。

Instead of moving cautiously, the economics profession should do what it is best at: recognize there is a problem, measure it objectively and find solutions. If the result is more women in economics who are treated better, there will be more competition for ideas and a more efficient use of a scarce resource. What economist could possibly object to that?

经济学专业人士不应如此小心翼翼，而应做自己最擅长的事情：认识到存在的问题，客观地衡量问题，并找到解决方案。若结果让更多的女性在经济学领域得到更好的待遇，就会有更多的竞争，就能更有效地利用稀缺资源。哪位经济学家会反对这一好处呢？

精 读 解 析

篇章结构：

P1：学术经济学领域存在性别歧视

P2-P4：美国经济协会（AEA）的调查显示，许多女性经济学家受到恶劣对待。

P5：学术经济学中的性别歧视表现

P6：关于采取一些办法来解决性别歧视问题的设想

P7：经济学领域需要认识存在的女性歧视的问题并设法找到解决方案

重点词汇：

• when it comes to 当涉及到, 当谈到; 就……而论

【例句】

When it comes to diet and exercise, we know what to do, but we don't do what we know.

当提到饮食和运动的时候，我们都知道怎么去做，但是我们不会按照我们知道的去做。

• skew /skjuː/ n. 歪斜；斜交adj. 斜交的；歪斜的

【例句】

She skewed around in her chair.

她坐在椅子上歪扭过身来。

Books are skewed and lounge against one another every whichaway.

书歪歪斜斜地一本倚着一本，乱七八糟。

• dismal /'dɪzm(ə)l/ adj. 凄凉的，忧郁的；阴沉的，沉闷的；可怕的n. 低落的情绪

【例句】

Sickness or bad luck often makes a person feel dismal.

生病或坏运经常使人沮丧。

Many economists will find that a dismal prospect.

许多经济学家将会发现这是一个令人沮丧的前景。

• discrimination /dɪ,skrɪmɪ'neɪʃ(ə)n/ n. 歧视；辨别; 辨别力, 识别力

【同根】

discriminatevt. & vi. 分别, 辨别, 区分

discriminativeadj. 有判别力的

【短语】

racial discrimination种族歧视

gender discrimination性别歧视

【例句】

Discrimination against women is not allowed.

歧视妇女是不能允许的。

Discrimination on the grounds of sex or race is unlawful.

性别或年龄引起的歧视是违法的。

• harassment /hə'ræsmənt/ n. 骚扰, 扰乱

【同根】

harassvt. 使烦恼；使困扰；反复袭击

【例句】

sexual harassment is a serious and insidious problem.

性骚扰是一个恶劣且有潜在恶果的问题。

She often got telephone harassment at night these days.

这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。

• marginalization n. 边缘化

【同根】

marginalizevt. 使处于社会边缘,使脱离社会发展进程;忽视,排斥

marginateadj. 有边缘的

Margin n. 边缘

【例句】

Political leaderships should also double its efforts to promote cultural dialogue and to eradicate discrimination and marginalization.

政治领导也应当加倍努力促进文化对话，根除民族歧视和民族排斥。

• shortfall /'ʃɔːtfɔːl/ n. 不足之量,差额

【例句】

There will soon be a shortfall in supply of qualified young people.

合格年轻人才的短缺将很快出现。

they are facing an expected $10 billion shortfall in revenue.

他们在收入方面面临100亿美元的赤字。

• crunch /krʌn(t)ʃ/n. 咬碎，咬碎声；扎扎地踏vt. 压碎；嘎扎嘎扎的咬嚼；扎扎地踏过

【同根】

Crunchy adj. 易碎的；发嘎吱嘎吱声的

【短语】

crunch time关键时刻；关键时间

【例句】

The dog was crunching a bone.

狗正嘎吱嘎吱地嚼骨头。

when it comes to the crunch you chicken out.

一到紧要关头，你就退缩。

• commendable /kəˈmendəbl/ adj. <正>值得表扬的;值得称赞的

【同根】

Commend v. 推荐；称赞；把…委托

【例句】

The government’s action here is highly commendable.

政府这样的行动值得高度赞扬。

She is the most admirable and commendable personality.

她是最令人敬佩和值得赞扬的个性。

• drop out 退出, 退学

【例句】

We should help those who drop out of university because of economic reasons .

我们应该帮助那些由于经济原因从大学退学的学生。

• benchmark /'ben(t)ʃmɑːk/n. 基准；标杆

【例句】

we continue to benchmark against the competition.

我们继续以这次学术活动作为衡量标准。

we are benchmarking our performance against external criteria.

我们用外来标准来检查我们的表现。

• priority /praɪ'ɒrɪtɪ/ n. 优先；优先权；优先次序；优先考虑的事

【短语】

first priority绝对优先权；最优先

high priority n. 高优先级

【例句】

The safety of the country takes priority over any other matter.

国家安全占有最重要的地位。

The highest priority of governments has been given to the problem of heavy traffic.

政府已经优先考虑交通拥挤的问题。

• dynamism /'daɪnəmɪz(ə)m/ n. 物力论；活力；推动力；动态；[心理]精神动力作用

【同根】

Dynamist n. 物力论者,力本论者

【例句】

The key is to preserve that natural dynamism while strengthening the effective cooperation between governments.

重点是加强政府间有效合作时保持自然动力。

He was known for his dynamism and strong views.

他以其活力和有力的观点而闻名。

• myriad /'mɪrɪəd/ adj. 无数的；种种的n. 无数，极大数量；无数的人或物

【例句】

There are myriad fish in the ocean.

海里有无数的鱼。

The sky was set with myriads of stars.

无数星星点缀着夜空。

• overdue /əʊvə'djuː/ adj. 迟到的；过期的；未兑的

【短语】

be overdue过期

overdue account过期帐，逾期帐

【例句】

She was overdue for some leave.

她早就该休假了。

The plane is overdue and has been delayed by the bad weather.

飞机晚点了, 被坏天气耽搁了。

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