Course description
This course is an introduction to the study of gender in order to enhance understanding of gender differences and encourage students to consider what kind of further steps are necessary to promote inclusive society. Specifically, this course takes a close look on gender gaps through the lens of labor economics and behavioral science.
The course begins from overviewing the current situation by looking quantitative data of gender gaps from both cross-country and time-horizon perspectives in order to encourage students to acknowledge where their home country currently stands, how was in the past, and think through what types of issues remain for the future. The quantitative data includes gender gaps such as educational attainment, wage, time spent on household labor and raising children, evaluation at workplace, promotion opportunity, and differences in gender composition by occupations.
Based on these facts, this course also tries to consider why the gender gap remains in our society by looking from several perspectives. First, we study the notion what economists refer to as statistical discrimination. This notion is a tendency for people to base their assessment of an individual person on group averages of which they belong to. People often do this type of assessment because we do not have complete information about an individual’s relevant characteristics. In class, we discuss over this type of discrimination using daily life examples. Second, we consider whether the gender gap also reflects factors behind the difference among gender. For example, some previous studies have revealed that women talks less than men when it comes to business, and women are less aggressive to negotiate for higher wage than men. Why do women talk less than men, and why are women less inclined to negotiate when it comes to their salary? To understand these possible differences among gender, the course moves on to grasp the idea of unconscious bias coming from stereotype or prejudice. The course aims to encourage students to understand how strong this unconscious bias is and how deeply it is rooted in our sociail norm. In class, we discuss what would be the possible and effective actions to reduce the gender gap.
In class, not only individual presentation but also group work and group presentation are required for students. During class, students are encouraged to learn actively by searching important materials and data, and to share them with other classmates. Therefore, students are requested to bring their own note PC to classroom.
In the second half of the course, students will create an original online survey to assess differences in form of perceptions and social norms toward gender in each country. Specific topics will be determined by student interest. The survey will be translated into the students' native languages and distributed to friends in their countries via URL. The data gathered will be shared with classmates so that country comparisons can be made. A term paper will be prepared based on these data.

Learning outcomes of the course
Students will be able to understand the basic facts and issues in gender by learning ideas from labor economics and behavioral science. Also, they will obtain skills of constructing original survey and collecting data by experiencing them during the course.

Teaching and evaluation method
Class participation and discussion 25%
Presentation (both individual and group: approximately once in every two classes during the term) 25%
Group work contribution 25%
Term (final) paper 25%

Bibliography*

Bohnet, Iris, What Works: Gender Equality by Design, Harvard University Press, 2016.
European Institute for Gender Equality, Gender Equality Index 2022: The COVID-19 pandemic and care, EIGE, 2022, https://eige.europa.eu/publications/gender-equality-index-2022-covid-19-pandemic-and-care
International Labour Organization, Global Wage Report 2018/19: What lies behind gender pay gaps, ILO, 2018, https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---dcomm/---publ/documents/publication/wcms_650553.pdf
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, Same skills, different pay: Tackling Gender Inequalities at firm level, OECD, 2022, https://www.oecd.org/gender/same-skills-different-pay-2022.pdf
Sandberg, Sheryl, Lean In for Graduates, Knopf, 2014.
World Economic Forum, Global Gender Gap Report 2021, World Economic Forum, https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GGGR_2021.pdf
World Economic Forum, Global Gender Gap Report 2022, World Economic Forum, https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GGGR_2022.pdf

* Other related materials not listed above may be distributed via Moodle in PDF files.

Tentative Schedule (by lesson)
The following schedule may be modified according to the number of students enrolled, the students' interest and level of understanding.

Week 1 (Feb 27-Mar 3)
Lesson 1: Introduction
- As a kick-off, the first lesson will be a casual group discussion. What issues related to gender are discussed in your country? In what areas and to what extent do you think gender inequalities exist in your country? If inequalities remain, do they need to be modified? Why do inequalities occur in the first place? In Lesson 1, we will share what we think about issues related to gender gaps.

Lesson 2: Group work (preparation for the next week presentation)
- Depending on the number of students enrolled, students will be divided into groups of 2 to 4 students to prepare for the following week’s group presentation. In this group work, participants will gather information on data and institutions in each other's countries, compare them to discover their differences and similarities and prepare PPT for the presentation. The same goes for the rest of the group works.
- In Lesson 2, we will compare gender gap focusing on the Global Gender Gap Index. Specifically, we examine gender differences across countries, focusing on the two among the four sub-categories: (1) educational attainment and (2) health and survival indexes.

Week 2 (Mar 6-Mar 10)
Lesson 3: Group presentation (from Lesson 2)
- Each group will make a presentation in front of the class using PPT. Details of the presentation and the time allotted for each group will be given in class.

Lesson 4: Group work (preparation for the next week presentation)
- In Lesson 4, we will compare gender gap by also focusing on the Global Gender Gap Index. Specifically, we examine gender differences across countries, focusing on the two among the four sub-categories: (3) Economic Participation and Opportunity and (4) Political Empowerment subindex.

Week 3 (Mar 13-Mar 17)
Lesson 5: Group presentation (from Lesson 4)
- Each group will make a presentation in front of the class using PPT. Details of the presentation and the time allotted for each group will be given in class.

Lesson 6: Group work (preparation for the next week presentation)
- In Lesson 6, we will compare the differences in time spent on household labor and raising children, the parental leave system and differences in the rate of parental leave taken by men and women.

Week 4 (Mar 20-Mar 27)
Lesson 7: Group presentation (from Lesson 6)
- Each group will make a presentation in front of the class using PPT. Details of the presentation and the time allotted for each group will be given in class.

Lesson 8: Group work (preparation for the next week presentation)
- In Lesson 8, first, we will learn about statistical discrimination.
- In group work, we observe the differences in the percentage of women in different occupations in student’s country. What types of professions have more women and what types of professions have fewer women? Are these differences common among countries?

Week 5 (Apr 3-Apr 7)
Lesson 9: Group presentation (from Lesson 8)
- Each group will make a presentation in front of the class using PPT. Details of the presentation and the time allotted for each group will be given in class.

Lesson 10: Group work (preparation for the Week 7 Lesson 13 presentation)
- In Lesson 10, we will learn about the unconscious bias that exists in many parts of our society.
- Group work will gather various examples of unconscious bias.

Spring break

Week 6 (Apr 17-Apr 21)
Lesson 11& 12: Creating a Survey
- Based on what has been learned during lessons 1-10, students will consult with each other to create a common questionnaire to be distributed to their country. The questionnaire will be created using a google form, translated into the language of each country, and then sent to people who know in their own country via SNS. It is recommended that at least 50 people respond to the questionnaire. Larger samples would be preferable.

Week 7 (Apr 24-Apr 28)
Lesson 13: Group presentation (from Lesson 10)
- Each group will make a presentation in front of the class using PPT. Details of the presentation and the time allotted for each group will be given in class.

Lesson 14: Group work (preparation for the next week presentation)
- Some countries have implemented various measures to narrow gender gaps. Those include affirmative action, quota system, and mandatory disclosure of information on wages by gender by companies.
- In group work, we will discuss when and what kind of measures each student’s country has implemented, and to what extent the gap has been reduced as a result of these efforts.

Week 8 (May 1-May 5)
Lesson 15: Group presentation (from Lesson 14)
- Each group will make a presentation in front of the class using PPT. Details of the presentation and the time allotted for each group will be given in class.

Lesson 16: Mid-term presentation
- Each student will present an interim report of data collected in the survey. Details of the presentation and the time allotted for each group will be given in class.

Week 9 (May 8-May 12)
Lesson 17&18: Data cleaning, creating tables & figures, and prepare for presentation (1)
- Combine data collected from different countries and clean the data to make it comparable. Create tables and figures to be used in the presentation.

Week 10 (May 15-May 19)
Lesson 19&20: Data cleaning, creating tables & figures, and prepare for presentation (2)
- Combine data collected from different countries and clean the data to make it comparable. Create tables and figures to be used in the presentation.

Week 11 (May 22-May 26)
Lesson 21&22: Final presentation
- Each student is given a certain time amount to give a presentation in front of classmates. The presentation should be based on the data collected during the class. In the presentation, students should compare the differences and similarities between their country and other countries based on data. Students should then describe what they think their country is good at and what they think they have learned from other countries, would gender gaps shall be narrowed, and if so, what would be the further steps to narrow the gender gap, based on what they have learned in the course.

Week 12 (May 29-June 1)
Final Exam: submit a term paper.
- Exact due date will be announced in class.

Last updated: 17 January, 2023