Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP17166
Authors: Hans Sievertsen; Sarah Smith
Abstract: Women’s voices are likely to be even more absent from economic debates than headline figures on female under-representation suggest. Focusing on a panel of leading economists we find that men are more willing than women to express an opinion and are more certain and more confident in their opinions, including in areas where both are experts. Women make up 21 per cent of the panel but 19 per cent of the opinions expressed and 14 per cent of strong opinions. We discuss implications for the economics profession and for promoting a genuine diversity of views.
Keywords: gender; opinions; confidence
JEL Codes: No JEL codes provided
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Increasing female representation could lead to a more cautious approach in expressing opinions (J16) | Caution in opinion expression (Y30) |
| Men are significantly more likely than women to express an opinion (C92) | Expression of opinion (Y60) |
| Men are 20.1 percentage points more likely to leave a comment than women (J16) | Engagement in comments (Y70) |
| Men express opinions with greater certainty (D81) | Certainty in opinion expression (D81) |
| Men are 85 percentage points more likely to express a strong opinion (J16) | Strength of opinion expression (D79) |
| Men exhibit greater confidence in their opinions (C92) | Confidence in opinion expression (D80) |