Posted by In the ever-evolving landscape of academic writing, subtle shifts can often signal broader cultural transformations. A fascinating new study by Camilo García-Jimeno and Sahar Parsa of “The Chicago Fed” delves into the changing use of gendered pronouns in economic theory papers over the past five decades. Their work, titled “Cultural Change Through Writing Style: Gendered Pronoun Use in the Economics Profession,” offers a unique lens through which to observe the dynamics of cultural change within the economics profession.
The Pronoun Pivot
Have you ever noticed how the pronouns used in academic papers can vary? From the traditional use of “he” to the more inclusive “they” or “she,” these choices might seem minor, but they reflect deeper shifts in societal norms and values. García-Jimeno and Parsa’s research meticulously tracks these changes from 1970 to 2019, revealing a gradual but significant move away from the exclusive use of masculine pronouns towards more gender-inclusive language.
The Role of Social Interactions
One of the most intriguing aspects of this study is its exploration of how social interactions within the professional network influence writing styles. The authors propose a model where writing style depends on the influence of academic peers, the negotiation between co-authors, and individual authors’ preferences for expressing gender equality values in their writing. By directly measuring peer influence and using a homophily-based model of co-authoring decisions, they isolate the effect of peer influence from unobserved personal preferences.
Conformists and Contrarians
The study also highlights the fascinating interplay between conformists and contrarians within the economics profession. While some economists tend to align their writing styles with those of their peers (conformists), others deliberately diverge (contrarians). This dynamic adds a layer of complexity to the diffusion of new writing styles and offers insights into how cultural changes propagate through professional networks.
Generational Shifts and Gender Diversity
As the economics profession has seen an increasing participation of women and a rise in academic collaboration, these factors have undoubtedly played a role in shaping writing styles. The study examines the contributions of generational shifts, the growing share of female economists, and the increasing prevalence of co-authorship in driving the observed changes in pronoun use.
A Glimpse into the Future
While the study doesn’t make strong assertions, it opens up a conversation about the evolving nature of academic writing and its reflection of broader cultural changes. As we continue to see more diversity and inclusivity in the economics profession, it will be interesting to observe how these trends continue to shape the language used in academic discourse.
Dive Deeper
If you’re curious about the methodologies and findings of this study, we encourage you to explore the full paper. García-Jimeno and Parsa’s work offers a rich tapestry of data and insights that shed light on the nuanced ways in which cultural change manifests in academic writing.
In a field as dynamic as economics, understanding these subtle shifts can provide valuable context for the ongoing evolution of professional norms and values. Stay tuned for more insights into the fascinating world of academic research and cultural transformation!
How Namsor API was used in the study
Classification of the of ethnic origin of authors: Namsor
We rely on the authors’ full names we obtained directly from the articles in our data set to assign an ethnic origin to each author. We do this using Namsor, a software tool specialized in identifying the likely regions of origin of proper names and last names from cultures all around the world. For each component of an author’s name –first name, middle name, last name– Namsor reports a most likely origin at the sub-region level (e.g., Western Europe, South-east Asia, Middle East, etc.). As the ethnic origin of author i, we assign the modal sub-region reported by Namsor across all of the author’s name components. For the small subset of cases with ties, we relied on ChatGPT prompts containing Namsor’s guesses, and retrieved ChatGPT best guess response.
See https://namsor.app
Image credits : DALL-E illustration for the scientific paper “Cultural Change Through Writing Style Gendered Pronoun Use in the Economics Profession” . Text credits for summarization : Mistral AI Chat.
About NamSor
NamSor™ Applied Onomastics is a European vendor of sociolinguistics software (NamSor sorts names). NamSor mission is to help understand international flows of money, ideas and people. We proudly support Gender Gap Grader.