2019年经济学人 女性和经济:市场支配力(2)

 

To deal with its gender¹ shortfall, economics needs two tools that it often uses to analyse and solve problems elsewhere: its ability to crunch² data and its capacity to experiment. Take data first. The AEA study is commendable³, but only a fifth of its 45,000 present and past members replied to its poll. More work is needed to establish why women are discouraged from becoming economists⁵, or drop out, or are denied promotion⁶.

为了解决性别差异，经济学需要两种工具来分析和解决其他领域的问题：处理数据的能力和实验能力。先看数据。AEA的研究是值得称赞的，但在其4.5万名现任和前任成员中，只有五分之一的人回复了调查。需要做更多的工作来确定为什么妇女不被鼓励成为经济学家，或辍学，或被拒绝升职。

More benchmarking is needed against other professions where women thrive. Better data are needed to capture how work by female economists is discriminated⁷ against. There is some evidence, for example, that they are held to higher standards than men in peer reviews and that they are given less credit for their co-writing than men. And economics needs to study how a lack of women skews its scholarly priorities, creating an intellectual opportunity cost. For instance, do economists obsess⁸ more about labourmarket conditions for men than for women? The more comprehensive the picture that emerges, the sooner and more easily action can be taken to change recruitment and to reform professional life.

其他女性活跃的职业需要更多基准衡量。捕捉女性经济学家的工作如何受到歧视需要更有力的数据来支撑。例如，有一些证据表明，女性在同行评审中的标准比男性更高，但在合著方面得到的好评却比男性少。经济学需要研究缺乏女性是如何扭曲其学术重点的，从而造成智力上的机会成本。例如，相比女性经济学家，男性经济学家是否更受劳动力市场状况困扰？覆盖的内容越全面，改变现有招聘、改革职业生活就越快，实行也更容易。

The other priority is for economists to experiment with new ideas, as the AEA is recommending. For a discipline that values dynamism, academic economics is often conservative, sticking with teaching methods, hiring procedures and social conventions that have been around for decades. The AEA survey reveals myriad⁹ subtle ways in which those who responded feel uncomfortable. For example 46% of women have not asked a question or presented an idea at conferences for fear of being treated unfairly, compared with 18% of men. Innovation is overdue¹⁰. Seminars could be organised to ensure that all speakers get a fair chance. Job interviews need not typically happen in hotel rooms, a practice that men regard as harmless but which makes some women uncomfortable. The way that authors’ names are presented on papers could ensure that it is clear who has done the intellectual heavy lifting.

经济学家的另一个优先权是试验新想法，正如AEA建议的那样。对于一个重视活力的学科来说，学术经济学往往是保守的，坚持数十年来的教学方法、招聘程序和社会惯例。AEA的调查揭示了那些做出反应的人感到不舒服的无数微妙方式。例如，46%的女性因为害怕受到不公平待遇而没有在会议上提出问题或提出想法，而男性的这一比例为18%。创新姗姗来迟。可以通过举办研讨会，确保所有讲者获得公平的机会。工作面试通常不需要在酒店房间里进行，在酒店房间面试这种做法在男性看来是无害的，但会让一些女性感到不舒服。论文中呈现作者姓名的方式，可以明确谁是其中完成智力重任的人。

Instead of moving cautiously, the economics profession should do what it is best at: recognise there is a problem, measure it objectively and find solutions. If the result is more women in economics who are treated better, there will be more competition for ideas and a more efficient use of a scarce resource. What economist⁴ could possibly object to that?

经济学专业人士不应谨慎行事，而应做自己最擅长的事情：认识到存在问题，客观地衡量问题，并找到解决方案。若结果让更多的女性在经济学领域得到更好的待遇，就会有更多的想法竞争，更有效地利用稀缺资源。哪位经济学家可能会反对这一点呢？

1 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

2 crunch   

n.关键时刻；艰难局面；v.发出碎裂声

参考例句：

• If it comes to the crunch they'll support us.关键时刻他们是会支持我们的。
• People who crunch nuts at the movies can be very annoying.看电影时嘎吱作声地嚼干果的人会使人十分讨厌。

3 commendable   

adj.值得称赞的

参考例句：

• The government's action here is highly commendable.政府这样的行动值得高度赞扬。
• Such carping is not commendable.这样吹毛求疵真不大好。

4 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

5 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 promotion   

n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传

参考例句：

• The teacher conferred with the principal about Dick's promotion.教师与校长商谈了迪克的升级问题。
• The clerk was given a promotion and an increase in salary.那个职员升了级，加了薪。

7 discriminated   

分别，辨别，区分( discriminate的过去式和过去分词 )； 歧视，有差别地对待

参考例句：

• His great size discriminated him from his followers. 他的宽广身材使他不同于他的部下。
• Should be a person that has second liver virus discriminated against? 一个患有乙肝病毒的人是不是就应该被人歧视？

8 obsess   

vt.使着迷，使心神不定，（恶魔）困扰

参考例句：

• I must admit that maps obsess me.我得承认我对地图十分着迷。
• A string of scandals is obsessing America.美国正被一系列丑闻所困扰。

9 myriad   

adj.无数的；n.无数，极大数量

参考例句：

• They offered no solution for all our myriad problems.对于我们数不清的问题他们束手无策。
• I had three weeks to make a myriad of arrangements.我花了三个星期做大量准备工作。

10 overdue   

adj.过期的，到期未付的；早该有的，迟到的

参考例句：

• The plane is overdue and has been delayed by the bad weather.飞机晚点了，被坏天气耽搁了。
• The landlady is angry because the rent is overdue.女房东生气了，因为房租过期未付。