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For Women in Economics, the Hostility Is Out in the Open

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A new study from Associate Professor Alicia Sasser Modestino and team offers quantitative insight: "Women received 12 percent more questions than men, and they were more likely to get questions that were patronizing or hostile."

A few years ago, the economists Alicia Sasser Modestino and Justin Wolfers sat at the back of a professional conference and watched Rebecca Diamond, a rising star in their field, present her latest research on inequality. Or at least she was meant to present it — moments after she began her talk, the audience began peppering her with questions.

“She must have gotten 15 questions in the first five minutes, including, ‘Are you going to show us the data?’” Dr. Modestino recalled. It was an odd, even demeaning question — the session was in the data-heavy field of applied microeconomics. Of course she was going to show her data.

BY BEN CASSELMAN
FEB. 23, 2021 NEW YORK TIMES

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