Gender gaps through an economics lens

Gender inequality is often approached as a question of rights and fairness. For economists, it is also a question of how effectively society uses its available talent.

“If we assume that talent is equally distributed across women and men, barriers preventing women from applying for jobs restrict the pool of talent,” says Pamela Campa, Associate Professor of Economics at the Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics (SITE) at the Stockholm School of Economics.

Campa joined the AUA Focus Series, produced by the American University of Armenia (AUA), for a conversation about gender gaps, women’s participation in the labor market and politics, and the role of economic research in identifying effective policies.

Gender gaps can leave talent unused

Campa argues that gender inequality can also create economic inefficiencies. When barriers prevent qualified women from entering particular professions or advancing in their careers, employers and societies draw from a smaller pool of candidates.

Some of the most persistent differences are found in occupational segregation. Women and men continue to select different occupations, and women remain underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

These patterns are visible even in Sweden, despite the country’s comparatively high level of gender equality. Vertical segregation also persists: women are less likely than men to reach senior positions such as CEO, even within the same occupations.

Research also provides evidence for interventions that can help close gender gaps, Campa says. Large-scale subsidized childcare can increase women’s participation in the labor market, while more predictable and longer school hours can make it easier to combine employment with family responsibilities.

In politics, gender quotas are the main policy tool that has been widely implemented and studied. They clearly increase women’s descriptive representation, without evidence that this comes at the expense of political leadership quality; in some settings, quotas have even improved candidate selection. Evidence on whether these gains translate into substantive changes in political priorities and outcomes is more mixed and context-dependent.

AUA joins the FREE Network and FROGEE

The conversation took place as part of a joint project between AUA and SITE, financed by the Swedish Institute and focused on closing gender gaps through economic research in Armenia.

AUA has also joined the FREE Network, an international network that includes SITE. Through this collaboration, AUA participates in the Forum for Research on Gender Economics in Eastern Europe (FROGEE), an initiative established to strengthen research and public discussion of gender equality.

FROGEE aims to use credible research to contribute to improvements in quality of life and make public debate more evidence-based. For Campa, partnerships with local institutions are important both for bringing research into national discussions and for connecting researchers across countries.

The “Closing Gender Gaps through Economics Research in Armenia” project is a two-year initiative launched in September 2024 and funded by the Swedish Institute under the Eastern Partnership Cooperation framework. The project is implemented by the American University of Armenia’s Manoogian Simone College of Business and Economics (CBE) in collaboration with the Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics (SITE).

“If the public is better informed through a science-based policy debate, then politicians will be held more accountable for the decisions they make,” Campa says.

Watch the full AUA Focus Series interview with Pamela Campa >>

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