Economics Seminars: Women presenters are treated differently than their male counterparts, are asked more questions during a seminar & the questions asked of women presenters are more likely to be patronizing or hostile

Gender and the Dynamics of Economics Seminars. Pascaline Dupas, Alicia Sasser Modestino, Muriel Niederle, Justin Wolfers, and the Seminar Dynamics Collective. January 20, 2021. https://web.stanford.edu/~pdupas/Gender&SeminarDynamics.pdf

Abstract: This paper reports the results of the first systematic attempt at quantitatively measuring the seminar culture within economics and testing whether it is gender neutral. We collected data on every interaction between presenters and their audience in hundreds of research seminars and job market talks across most leading economics departments, as well as during summer conferences. We find that women presenters are treated differently than their male counterparts. Women are asked more questions during a seminar and the questions asked of women presenters are more likely to be patronizing or hostile. These effects are not due to women presenting in different fields, different seminar series, or different topics, as our analysis controls for the institution, seminar series, and JEL codes associated with each presentation. Moreover, it appears that there are important differences by field and that these differences are not uniformly mitigated by more rigid seminar formats. Our findings add to an emerging literature documenting ways in which women economists are treated differently than men, and suggest yet another potential explanation for their under-representation at senior levels within the economics profession.

JEL Classifications: A1, C8, J4, J7.

Keywords: differential treatment, seminar culture, interruptions

Some comments... Madam Speaker: Are Female Presenters Treated Worse in Econ Seminars? The evidence seems statistically weak & conceptually inconclusive