Gender Inequality

A 5,000-year-old history of the gender gap

image of a woman holding up a sign celebrating women's right to vote

After a long history of inequality, much work still needs to be done in order to close the gender gap. Image: Unsplash/Jonnelle Yankovich

Arash Nekoei
Assistant Professor of Economics, IIES-Stockholm
Fabian Sinn
PhD student in Economics, IIES-Stockholm
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Gender Inequality

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a graph showing women’s share at the top of social hierarchy over history
This shows that world had actually progressed quite far already a long time ago with regards to gender equality, before regressing. Image: VoxEu
a graph showing women’s share of ‘self-mades’ over history
This graph shows a rising prevalence of women who were not born into families or married to males with power and fame. Image: VoxEu
a graph showing women’s share of writers over history
Overall, there has been a steady increase of women writers over the centuries. Image: VoxEu
Fraction studied at university over history
'Self-made successful women have become a ubiquitous phenomenon in the recent period.' Image: VoxEu
graphs showing women’s share of pre-1800 writers vs share of ‘self-mades’
There was a broader take-off of self-made women around the 1800 birth cohort. Image: VoxEu
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Gender InequalityFuture of Work
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