Monday, February 15th 2021
2:00pm – 3:30pm
WebEx
Over the past 70 years gender roles in the home and the workplace changed. Women have become more equal contributors in the labor market and men more equal contributors in the home. These changes were partially driven by the economic forces of technological change and increased international trade. As we entered 2020, women held the majority of jobs in the labor market and the vast majority of children were being raised in homes in which all parents worked. The pandemic disrupted our modern family and work lives, bringing kids out of childcare and home, and leaving many parents unemployed, while others are working at home. The result has been an unprecedented drop in labor force participation and a scaling back of hours of work by parents, particularly among women. In this talk, the economic forces that pushed gender equality, the limitations to fully realizing gender equality, and the set-back of women’s equality caused by the pandemic were discussed.
About the Speakers:
Betsey Stevenson is a professor of public policy and economics at the University of Michigan. She is also a faculty research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, a visiting associate professor of economics at the University of Sydney, a research fellow of the Centre for Economic Policy Research, a fellow of the Ifo Institute for Economic Research in Munich, and serves on the executive committee of the American Economic Association. She served as a member of the Council of Economic Advisers from 2013 to 2015 where she advised President Obama on social policy, labor market, and trade issues. She served as the chief economist of the U.S. Department of Labor from 2010 to 2011, advising the Secretary of Labor on labor policy and participating as the secretary’s deputy to the White House economic team. She has held previous positions at Princeton University and at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.
Dr. Stevenson is a labor economist who has published widely in leading economics journals about the labor market and the impact of public policies on outcomes both in the labor market and for families as they adjust to changing labor market opportunities. Her research explores women’s labor market experiences, the economic forces shaping the modern family, and how these labor market experiences and economic forces on the family influence each other. She is a columnist for Bloomberg View, and her analysis of economic data and the economy are frequently covered in both print and television media.
Dr Stevenson earned a BA in economics and mathematics from Wellesley College and an MA and PhD in economics from Harvard University.
Madeline de Quillacq is a current senior at the Elliott School of International Affairs at the George Washington University, pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Economics and International Affairs, with a concentration in International Economics. She is president of GW Women in Economics, an intern at the Reshoring Institute, and has been a research assistant at the Institute for International Economic Policy for almost two years. In addition, she served as an undergraduate teacher’s assistant for the college course “Principles of Mathematics for Economics” and attended Sciences Po in Paris, France during the 2019-2020 academic year. Madeline is a tri-citizen (US, UK, France) and fluent in French.
About the Discussants:
Dr. Mary Ellsberg is the Executive Director and Founding Director of the Global Women’s Institute at the George Washington University. Dr. Ellsberg has more than 30 years of experience in international research and programs on gender and development. Before joining the university in August 2012, Dr. Ellsberg served as Vice President for Research and Programs at the International Center for Research on Women. Dr. Ellsberg’s deep connection to global gender issues stems not only from her academic work, but also from living in Nicaragua for nearly 20 years, leading public health and women’s rights advocacy. She was a member of the core research team of the World Health Organization’s Multi-Country Study on Domestic Violence and Women’s Heath, and she has authored more than 40 books and articles on violence against women and girls. Dr. Ellsberg earned a doctorate in epidemiology and public health from Umea University in Sweden and a bachelor’s degree in Latin American studies from Yale University.
Eiko Strader is an Assistant Professor of Public Policy, Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies, and Sociology. Her research and teaching focus on social inequalities by gender, race/ethnicity, sexuality, citizenship, and criminal records. Much of her work tries to understand how and under what conditions these social categories become relevant in predicting life chances across different policy contexts. She has published related works in Social Forces, Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, International Migration Review, Journal of International Affairs, and other outlets.
This event was co-sponsored with GW Women in Economics.
GW Women in Economics seeks to increase women’s representation and support women’s participation in economics, at GWU and in the broader profession. The organization seeks to address the demonstrated lack of representation of women in the field of economics, beginning at the pipeline by fostering interest among students, increase visibility of women pursuing economic degrees, providing professional networking opportunities that promote the advancement of women in the professions, and to create a forum in which issues of common interest can be explored.
