American Economic Review
ISSN 0002-8282 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7981 (Online)
Gender Differences in Economics Seminars
American Economic Review
(pp. 749–89)
Abstract
We assess whether men and women are treated differently when presenting their economics research. We collected data across thousands of seminars, job market talks, and conference presentations, leveraging human judgment and audio-processing algorithms to measure the number, tone, and type of interruptions. Within a seminar series, women are interrupted more than men. This holds when controlling for characteristics of the presenter, paper, and audience. Interruptions that are negative in tenor or tone or cut off the presenter mid-sentence increase for women presenters. We also find greater engagement of female audience members with female presenters, suggesting a potential role model effect.Citation
Dupas, Pascaline, Amy Handlan, Alicia Sasser Modestino, Muriel Niederle, Mateo Seré, Haoyu Sheng, Justin Wolfers, and Seminar Dynamics Collective. 2026. "Gender Differences in Economics Seminars." American Economic Review 116 (2): 749–89. DOI: 10.1257/aer.20241718Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- A11 Role of Economics; Role of Economists; Market for Economists
- C45 Neural Networks and Related Topics
- J16 Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
- J44 Professional Labor Markets; Occupational Licensing