Marquette Business’ annual Marburg Lecture to look at gender wage and labor force participation gap, Nov. 10

MILWAUKEE — Dr. Marianne Bertrand, the Chris P. Dialynas Distinguished Service Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago, will deliver Marquette Business’ annual Marburg Memorial Lecture, “Gender, Stereotypes and Inequality,” which will examine the gender wage and labor force participation gap, on Friday, Nov. 10, at 2:30 p.m. in the Weasler Auditorium, 1506 W. Wisconsin Ave.

The lecture is hosted by the Department of Economics in the College of Business Administration and open to members of the general public at no cost; registration is required and available online.

Currently, women in the United States earn about 80 cents for every dollar earned by men. Furthermore, women remain much less likely than men to pursue education and careers in STEM, despite the high demand for these skills in the labor market today. Women are also highly underrepresented in the top layers of corporate America: in 2023, only 8% of CEOs of S&P 500 companies are women. Bertrand will review these facts, provide historical context and discuss the most likely explanations for these remaining inequities in consideration of the most recent research in economics and the broader social sciences.

Bertrand is an applied microeconomist whose research covers the fields of labor economics, corporate finance, political economy and development economics. Her research in these areas has been published widely, including numerous research articles in the Quarterly Journal of Economics, the Journal of Political Economy, the American Economic Review and the Journal of Finance.

Bertrand has received several awards and honors, including the 2004 Elaine Bennett Research Prize, awarded by the American Economic Association to recognize and honor outstanding research in any field of economics by a woman at the beginning of her career, and the 2012 Society of Labor Economists’ Rosen Prize for Outstanding Contributions to Labor Economics. Bertrand is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and of the Econometric Society; she was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2021.

The Marburg Lecture series is named in honor of the late Theodore F. Marburg, a longtime member of Marquette’s Department of Economics. The goal of the lecture is to provide a forum for the discussion of moral, philosophical, and social dimensions of economic issues, as well as continue Professor Marburg’s commitment to the economic aspects of peace and justice. The Marburg Lecture is made possible by the generosity of the Marburg family and through the support of the Center for Global and Economic Studies.

About Marquette University

Marquette University is a Catholic, Jesuit university located near the heart of downtown Milwaukee that offers a comprehensive range of majors in 11 nationally and internationally recognized colleges and schools. Through the formation of hearts and minds, Marquette prepares our 11,100 undergraduate, graduate, doctoral and professional students to lead, excel and serve as agents of positive change. And, we deliver results. Ranked in the top 20% of national universities, Marquette is recognized for its undergraduate teaching, innovation and career preparation as the sixth-best university in the country for job placement. Our focus on student success and immersive, personalized learning experiences encourages students to think critically and engage with the world around them. When students graduate with a Marquette degree, they are truly prepared and called to Be The Difference.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.