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Dr. Ann Mari May Featured in National Media for Views on Economics and Gender Issues

Dr. Ann Mari May, professor of economics at the UNL College of Business Administration, was recently featured in three national news media articles. One article from ABC News looked at spending choices on beauty products by gender during an economic downturn. Another article from Phys.org, examined whether economic policies are shaped differently depending on whether men or women are formulating the strategies. The third article from The Chronicle of Higher Education, looked at whether economic analysis is based on personal philosophy rather than objective facts.

In the ABC News story, Dr. May noted that the purchase of beauty care items during tough economic times are not limited to women. During the Great Depression research showed that sales of men’s hair dye increased.

In the article for Phys.org, Dr. May gave her views on the value of gender diversity when economic policies are formed.

Dr. Ann Mari May

Dr. Ann Mari May

"We wanted to learn if it would make any difference if men or women were at the table when economic policies were debated and alternatives considered," May said. "These results suggest that the answer to that question is a clear and definitive yes."

Dr. May also examined differences between genders regarding economic theory, methodology and policy issues in The Chronicle of Higher Education article. When it comes to theory and methodology there were only minor differences between men and women.

“But when you get to policy questions in economics,” she said, “then you’re sort of heading into an area where people might have different experiences that lead them to see different things in the data.”

Dr. May noted that economic science may be more vulnerable to bias than other sciences because it is difficult to run some experiments where some variables are changed and others are held constant. “So you have to rely on theoretical propositions,” she said.

Dr. May, who has an expertise in feminist economics, is also on the board of the International Association of Feminist Economics, housed at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. 

Published: September 5, 2012