J-PAL North America News: Fostering inclusion in economics

In our mission to reduce poverty through scientific evidence, one of the most pressing questions we face is how to improve equity—how to ensure that all communities benefit from policies that promote well-being and economic mobility. The field of economics, where J-PAL North America’s work is centered, is best equipped to answer this broad, complex challenge when many perspectives are represented.?

However, economics does not currently reflect the diversity of lived experiences within North America. This lack of diversity is not only a problem of numerical representation but also of inclusion and belonging. The 2019 American Economic Association climate survey found that people from groups underrepresented in economics, including Black economists and women economists, were more likely to take actions to avoid harassment—like refraining from presenting their research ideas or participating in conferences—than white economists or men economists. Taken together, the lack of diversity and inclusion in the field is likely hampering our collective ability to generate evidence and inform policies that reduce poverty and increase equity. We can more fully benefit from the contributions of researchers from all backgrounds to topics of social policy, race, and discrimination by making the field more inclusive and welcoming.

In this newsletter, we highlight some of the efforts within and beyond J-PAL to make economics more welcoming, including the work of our affiliated researchers to foster inclusivity within the discipline. While we don’t have all the answers on how to make economics a more diverse and inclusive field, we are eager to learn, grow, and change. As we do, we’re excited to see new research questions generated and randomized evaluations conducted—both those that will give us new perspectives on addressing poverty and equity and those that can help effectively advance diversity and inclusion within the field of economics and J-PAL.

Laura Feeney | Co-Executive Director | J-PAL North America

Read more:

Fostering inclusion in economics: In a new series on the J-PAL blog, we speak to J-PAL affiliated researchers who are working to cultivate a diverse and inclusive environment in the field of economics

• Building the evidence base to address the United States' maternal health crisis: Washington Post Opinion + New results from an evaluation of Nurse Family Partnership
• Policy Insight: Evidence from randomized evaluations on higher education financial aid take-up

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