Bard College’s Levy Economics Institute Receives $500,000 Hewlett Grant for Its Gender Equality and the Economy Program
ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.— The Levy Economics Institute of Bard College is pleased to announce that it has received a two-year $500,000 grant from the Hewlett Foundation. The award will support the institute’s Gender Equality and the Economy (GEE) program and aims to generate new knowledge and share information about the economic empowerment of women, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.The GEE program focuses on the ways in which economic processes and policies affect gender equality, and examines the relationships between gender inequalities and economic outcomes. During the grant period from 2023–2025, the institute and its partners—including Levy scholars Thomas Masterson, Fernando Rios-Avila, Aashima Sinha, and Ajit Zacharias, alongside regional partners Abena Oduro of the University of Ghana and Nthabiseng Moleko of the University of Stellenbosch—plan to generate new research on gender disparities in employment security and welfare outcomes in Ghana and South Africa. The dominance of wage employment in South Africa versus self-employment in Ghana, for example, may present different labor market scenarios with potentially significant implications for employment security and welfare outcomes. The grant will also support continued research using the Levy Institute’s expanded measure of poverty: the Levy Institute Measure of Time and Income Poverty (LIMTIP). Inspired by feminist approaches to economics, the LIMTIP takes account of time for household production in order to create a more accurate reading of economic deprivation.
“We are grateful to the Hewlett Foundation for their generous decade-long support” said Ajit Zacharias, senior scholar and director of the Institute’s Distribution of Income and Wealth Program. “Inequality in earnings between men and women is an important and well-studied aspect of gender inequality. However, the gender disparities in child-rearing, care of dependent adults, and division of other family responsibilities often force women into less secure forms of employment than men with similar labor market profiles. The gender distribution of types of employment thus has a fundamental effect on current earnings differentials. Such disparities also drive the gender disparity in cumulative earnings, i.e., earnings over working life. They have gendered implications for old-age income security, e.g., by shaping private savings or eligibility for employer-provided pensions. We aim to provide fresh insights and evidence on these issues, hoping they will contribute to policies that promote gender equality and social justice.”
The award will facilitate two workshops in the region to disseminate its findings, along with related work by scholars in the region, and engage with policymakers and other stakeholders. Additionally, the institute will host an international workshop on gender and economic analysis featuring new research in feminist economics, providing a platform for new studies and mutual engagement with global research and policy community members.
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The Levy Economics Institute of Bard College, founded in 1986 through the generous support of the late Bard College trustee Leon Levy, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, public policy research organization. The Institute is independent of any political or other affiliation, and encourages diversity of opinion in the examination of economic policy issues while striving to transform ideological arguments into informed debate.
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About Bard College
Founded in 1860, Bard College is a four-year, residential college of the liberal arts and sciences located 90 miles north of New York City. With the addition of the Montgomery Place estate, Bard’s campus consists of nearly 1,000 parklike acres in the Hudson River Valley. It offers bachelor of arts, bachelor of science, and bachelor of music degrees, with majors in more than 40 academic programs; graduate degrees in 13 programs; eight early colleges; and numerous dual-degree programs nationally and internationally. Building on its 163-year history as a competitive and innovative undergraduate institution, Bard College has expanded its mission as a private institution acting in the public interest across the country and around the world to meet broader student needs and increase access to liberal arts education. The undergraduate program at our main campus in upstate New York has a reputation for scholarly excellence, a focus on the arts, and civic engagement. Bard is committed to enriching culture, public life, and democratic discourse by training tomorrow’s thought leaders. For more information about Bard College, visit bard.edu.
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This event was last updated on 12-07-2023
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