Feminism and Economics

Abstract

Recent feminist theorizing about gender and science could improve economic practice. The usual definitions of the subject matter, models, methods, and pedagogy of economics, while often perceived as value-free and impartial, contain distinct masculine biases. The alternative is not a ‘feminine’ economics, not a ‘female’ economics, but an economics in which practitioners of either sex make use of the widest range of appropriate methods in studying the subject of economic provisioning. Examples are given of work in which gender conformity has not been a defining factor, as well as work in which gender biases are apparent.