Women in Research in Economics in Latin America

This study investigates women's contributions to academic publications in economics across Latin America from 2000 to 2019, examining gender disparities in research output and field specialization. We begin by exploring historiographical research to understand the historical context of women's participation in economics and their concentration in certain fields.

Our analysis draws on data from the Scopus online database, encompassing 9,303 articles with at least one author affiliated with a Latin American institution. The findings reveal a significant increase in economics articles published by Latin American researchers during the study period. However, gender imbalances persist, with women constituting only 26.5% of authors and demonstrating a lower average publication rate compared to men (1.6 versus 2.1 publications). Moreover, publications authored by men tend to receive more citations and appear in higher-ranked journals.

Despite these disparities, women's contributions to economics publications in Latin America have shown an overall upward trend, particularly between 2007 and 2012. This growth was largely driven by women's increased participation in mixed-gender research teams. The study also reveals that gender segregation across economic fields in Latin America mirrors patterns observed in developed countries. Women are highly represented in areas such as Health, Education, and Welfare, and Labor and Demographic Economics, but remain underrepresented in Macroeconomics and Financial Economics.

We also find a significant decrease in gender segregation across economics disciplinary fields over the study period. This reduction is primarily attributed to an increase in the proportion of women within individual fields rather than changes in the relative sizes of these fields.