Gender inequities are, in part, sustained by conservative gender norms and moral codes that advantage men at the expense of women in households, the labor market and politics.
These norms – social rules that women must obey to be thought of as “good” women and citizens – make society less efficient and productive. Yet, they persist because those who benefit from them have an economic incentive and, more importantly, the economic and political power to strategically deploy them to their own advantage. Meanwhile, women subjected to these norms face a catch-22: to be seen as good workers and make progress in their careers, they are required to support and nurture co-workers alongside their own work. In the home, the free domestic labor required by gender norms inevitably reduces women’s ability to generate income that might allow them to negotiate domestic responsibilities on an equal footing.
In the face of these powerful economic incentives, addressing gender inequality in the workplace and in the home will require more than encouraging individuals to change their behavior or mandates that seek to compensate women for the labor market costs of gender norms, without challenging the norm itself. Rather, lasting equality will likely require collective action on the part of women and their allies, and public policies that acknowledge and respond to the fact that a society that enforces conservative gender norms gives men both disproportionate access to money and power—and the ability to sustain that access.
On Thursday, March 28, 4:00-6:30 PM EDT, join the Boston University Global Development Policy Center, the Boston University Institute for Economic Development and the Boston University Department of Economics for the annual Paul Streeten Distinguished Lecture in Global Development Policy, presented by Rohini Pande, renowned economist and the Henry J. Heinz II Professor of Economics and Director of the Economic Growth Center at Yale University.
The Streeten Lecture celebrates the example and legacy of Boston University Professor Paul Streeten as an eminent economist and interdisciplinary scholar whose work had a significant impact on global development policy.
A reception with drinks and refreshments follows the Lecture from 5:30-6:30 PM.
REGISTER TO ATTEND VIA ZOOM: https://gdpcenter.org/Streeten-2024-Zoom
REGISTER TO ATTEND IN PERSON: https://gdpcenter.org/Streeten-2024-In-Person
LOCATION: (HYBRID) Boston University Hillel, 213 Bay State Road, 4th Floor, Boston, MA 02215
About the Paul Streeten Distinguished Lecture in Global Development Policy
The Paul Streeten Distinguished Lecture in Global Development Policy celebrates the example and legacy of Professor Paul Streeten as an eminent economist and interdisciplinary scholar who has had a significant impact on global development policy through his work with the World Bank, the United Nations Development Program, and UNESCO. Streeten joined Boston University’s Department of Economics as a Professor in the mid-1970s where he also served as Director of the Economics Department’s Center for Asian Development Studies and then as Director of the World Development Institute. He published his best-known books during this time, such as Development Perspectives (Macmillan, 1981) and First Things First: Meeting Basic Human Needs in the Developing Countries (World Bank, Oxford University Press, 1981). His stature in the field of development helped attract numerous younger students and mid-career public officials from around the world to come to study at Boston University. The joint sponsorship of this lecture by Boston University’s Global Development Policy Center, the Institute for Economic Development, and the Department of Economics reflects the breadth of his engagement at Boston University, the rigor of his scientific research, and the inspiration he has given younger scholars to pursue interdisciplinary research on pressing development problems.