Economics Needs to Dump the Sexism

The economics world is abuzz after a New York Times article examined a series of sexual harassment complaints against celebrated Harvard professor Roland Fryer Jr. Fryer, who won the prestigious John Bates Clark medal -- the field’s second most-coveted prize after the Nobel -- in 2015, has been accused of a pattern of inappropriate behavior toward women working in his research group, and of professional retaliation against one woman who complained.

The allegations against Fryer may come as a shock, but the general pattern will be familiar to anyone who has studied or worked in the economics field -- we all know at least a few of these stories. The reporters who wrote the article, Jim Tankersley and Ben Casselman, have called for anyone with stories about sexual harassment or sexism in the econ profession to contact them directly. It seems likely that in the coming months and years, more of these cases will come to light.