Newsweek, June 11, 2020: Economists’ Silence on Racism Is 100 Years in the Making
Three years ago, Alice Wu’s thesis about overtly sexist language found on a forum used by job market candidates, followed by sexual assault allegations against star economist Roland Fryer less than two years later, represented a tipping point in the gender dynamics within the field of economics. Many Wu’s paper as the catalyst to institutional change in the economics profession with respect to gender. As a result, the American Economic Association decided to establish a Committee on Equity, Diversity and Professional Conduct, which administered and published a profession-wide climate survey. What the survey revealed was another deep-rooted problem, one that black economists have known for nearly a century: Economics has a race problem.
According to the climate survey, black economists were less likely than non-black economists to agree that their race or ethnicity was respected in the profession by a margin of 56 percentage points. Black economists were also more likely to report that their race was associated with feeling socially excluded in the profession. Perhaps even more concerning, over 30 percent of black respondents said they chose not to apply for a job in order to avoid harassment, discrimination or unfair treatment—compared to only 15 percent of non-black respondents.
For black women, over 60 percent report experiencing racial discrimination, gender discrimination or both.
