Seema Jayachandran

Power & limits of economic development as a pathway to gender equality

Watch #KAPTalks lecturer Seema Jayachandran, economist & professor discussing how economic development lowers the gender gap.

Tuesday 24.05.2022

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Gender gaps that disadvantage women and girls – in employment, education, health, and more – tend to be bigger in lower-income countries than in higher-income countries. This lecture discussed why economic progress often helps bring about more gender equality, and, conversely, why gender inequality slows economic progress. It also discussed some exceptions to the rule that economic development brings about gender equality – and how public policy can help alleviate this tension.

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Seema Jayachandran is a Professor of Economics and Public Affairs at Princeton University. Her research focuses on environmental conservation, gender equality, health, and other microeconomic topics in developing countries.

Seema Jayachandran is a Professor of Economics and Public Affairs at Princeton UniversityShe serves on the board of directors of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) and leads J-PAL's gender sector. She is also co-director of the National Bureau of Economic Research's program in Development Economics and co-editor of the American Economic Journal: Applied Economics. In addition, she serves on CARE's board of directors. Prior to joining Northwestern, she was a faculty member at Stanford University. She earned a PhD in economics from Harvard University, a master’s degree in physics and philosophy from the University of Oxford where she was a Marshall Scholar, and a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from MIT.

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