[Insight & Opinion] The Transformed American Economic Association Focuses on Diversity

[Asia Economy] Every January, the largest event in the American economics community, the Annual Meeting of the American Economic Association (ASSA), takes place. After being held online during the pandemic, the event was held in person for the first time in three years from the 6th for three days in New Orleans. This year, leading figures such as Harvard University professor Larry Summers (former Treasury Secretary), Harvard University professor Jason Furman (former Chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers), Raphael Bostic, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, UC Berkeley professor Christina Romer, and Michigan State University professor Lisa Cook (current Federal Reserve Board member) engaged in heated debates on high inflation trends, U.S. benchmark interest rate forecasts, and the global economic recession. Although various forecasts were presented, there was general agreement that even if inflation soon enters a stabilization phase, the U.S. benchmark interest rate will actually be higher than the current Federal Reserve (Fed) projections, that high interest rates will be maintained for the time being, and that while real economic shocks are expected, even if a recession occurs, its duration will not be long.

While the media’s focus is on future economic forecasts, the leadership of the American Economic Association is concerned with the issue of DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion). At ASSA, a job market for newly minted economics PhDs is also held. Despite the annual meeting being held in person, all job market interviews were conducted online. The reason is not concerns about infection but DEI considerations. If job market interviews were held in person, candidates with young children could be disadvantaged. This is especially a significant burden for female economists. For this reason, the association has been striving for several years to ensure that childcare facilities for infants and young children are available at the annual meeting venues and hotels. Since New Orleans, where this event was held, was judged to lack such facilities, all interviews were conducted online.

Efforts toward DEI are also evident in the association’s operation of poster sessions. From the author’s experience, many sessions in the past were dominated by presenters from major U.S. universities. However, this year’s poster sessions allocated more than half of the presentations to professors and students from a diverse range of universities within the U.S. as well as universities in Latin America.

The association’s efforts to improve DEI reflect a reflection on the past. While significant progress has already been made in STEM fields to secure diversity, with women now comprising more than half in various STEM areas, economics is still in the process of improvement, with the proportion of female students at both undergraduate and doctoral levels remaining quite low. Statistics since 2013 show that the proportion of women earning economics PhDs is only 32.9%. Looking at the promotion rates to full professor in academia, the proportion of women has only just exceeded 10% in the 2020s. As interest in this imbalance grows, various supporting statistics have been developed, and academia is making efforts in many areas. For example, the fact that more than 80% of the main figures introduced in economics textbooks and those appearing in general examples are male clearly reveals this problem.

In Korea, the situation is quite different from major countries including the U.S., with a significantly higher proportion of women at the undergraduate level. Already in the 2010s, the female proportion exceeded 40%, and currently it is well over half. The academic community is paying attention to this difference and believes that understanding its background could make Korea a global model case. Based on this human resource infrastructure, we look forward to the day when Korean female economists become leaders in global economics, including at the American Economic Association.

Kyuil Kim, Professor, Department of Economics, Michigan State University