Why are women disadvantaged in the workplace?

University of Cambridge

Rory Cellan-Jones talks to Emmanuelle Auriol, Nina Jörden and Francesca Barigozzi about the underrepresentation of women in certain sectors, the persistence of the motherhood wage gap, and the impact of flexible work arrangement on women’s careers. This episode asks why are women disadvantaged in the workplace? Experts explore why women are underrepresented in certain professions. Why is the motherhood wage gap so persistent? How does flexible work impact women's careers? And what does policy need to do to reduce gender inequalities in the workplace? Podcast host, Rory Cellan-Jones (former technology correspondent for the BBC), discusses these issues with leading academics Emmanuelle Auriol (IAST), Nina Jörden (Bennett Institute for Public Policy) and Francesca Barigozzi (University of Bologna). Listen to this episode on your preferred podcast platform Season 3 Episode 6 transcript For more information about the podcast and the work of the institutes, visit our websites at https://www.bennettinstitute.cam.ac.uk/ and https://www.iast.fr/. Tweet us with your thoughts at @BennettInst and @IASToulouse. Audio production by Steve Hankey Associate production by Stella Erker Visuals by Tiffany Naylor More about our host and guests: Rory Cellan-Jones was a technology correspondent for the BBC. His 40 years in journalism have seen him take a particular interest in the impact of the internet and digital technology on society and business. He has also written multiple books, including “Always On” (2021) and his latest “Ruskin Park: Sylvia, Me and the BBC” which was published in 2023. @ruskin147 Emmanuelle Auriol is a full professor at Toulouse School of Economics. Her work, which combines theoretical and empirical approaches, focuses on industrial organization and development economics. She studies market failures, whether they are caused by the rent-seeking behavior of agents with market power, or by cognitive biases such as intrinsic motivations, religious beliefs, or discriminatory social norms, especially against women. Francesca Barigozzi is a Professor of Economics at the Department of Economics of the University of Bologna. She is an applied microtheorist, and her fields of research include family economics, public economics, information economics, health economics, and behavioral economics. She holds a PhD in Economics from Toulouse School of Economics. She has been a visiting professor at Ecole Centrale Marseille, Boston University, and Toulouse School of Economics. Her current research activity focuses mainly on family economics, gender issues, and personnel economics. Nina Jörden is a research associate at the Bennett Institute. Her work focuses on questions around the future of work: What do employees need to be resilient and productive? What will “good work” look like in the future? How can work be meaningful and meet societal needs? Nina addresses these questions in both the private and public sectors. Nina holds a PhD in Organisational Studies from Loughborough University, an MSc in Human Resource Management from Loughborough University and a BA in Psychology and Management from the International School of Management, Germany. @jorden_nina