Gendered innovations in economics: Marilyn Waring's approach to social science research

Abstract

Gendered innovations explore how researchers can harness the creative power of gender analysis to make new discoveries. This essay addresses that question in the discipline of economics, where women are under-represented in research leadership roles. It draws on the research achievements of a New Zealand economist, Marilyn Waring, to explore how gender analysis in economics can be used to make new discoveries and drive innovation. This draws attention to the way in which Waring performed the research published in her influential 1988 book If Women Counted: A New Feminist Economics. Her approach is contrasted with the standard Popper-Kuhn-Lakatos model of scientific progress. It demonstrates how a social scientist can break new ground by being embedded in a community of activists grappling with burning issues of the day. Waring's approach has ongoing lessons for gendered innovations in economics.