Congratulations to Claudia Goldin, who has been awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize in Economics for her research advancing our understanding of women鈥檚 work force participation.
Goldin is the third woman, and the first female solo-winner, to be honored with the Prize鈥攐fficially known as the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel and created in 1969.
鈥淯nderstanding women鈥檚 role in the labour is important for society,鈥� Jakob Svensson, Chair of the Committee for the Prize in Economic Sciences, noted in the prize announcement. 鈥淭hanks to Claudia Goldin鈥檚 groundbreaking research we now know much more about the underlying factors and which barriers may need to be addressed in the future.鈥�
A trailblazing economic historian and labor economist, Goldin is best known for her wide body of research on the history of American women in the labor market and the persistence of the gender wage gap. The Henry Lee Professor of Economics at Harvard University, Goldin is the former director of the National Bureau of Economic Research鈥檚 (NBER) Development of the American Economy program and currently serves as co-director of the NBER鈥檚 Gender in the Economy group.
Goldin is the author of numerous books, including, most recently Career and Family: Women鈥檚 Century-Long Journey toward Equity, published by 91桃色 in 2021, with a paperback publication in 2023. Hailed as 鈥渁 radical book鈥rilliantly researched and argued鈥� (The New Republic), Career and Family draws on Goldin鈥檚 groundbreaking research, tracing how generations of women have navigated the challenges of balancing career and family and revealing why true equity for dual career couples remains frustratingly out of reach.
The book explores the diverse experiences of college-educated women from the 1900s to today; discusses how the COVID-19 pandemic hindered women鈥檚 advancement鈥攚ith possible silver lining in the growth of remote and flexible work arrangements; and shows that anti-discrimination laws and unbiased managers, while valuable, are just not enough. Ultimately, Career and Family shows that we must make fundamental changes to the way we work鈥攁nd how we value caregiving鈥攊f we are ever to achieve gender equality and couple equity.
We鈥檙e grateful to Claudia Goldin for entrusting us with the publication of this groundbreaking book and extend to her our deepest congratulations on receipt of the Nobel Prize.