Heidi Hartmann on equal pay, family leave, and gender equity in the field of Economics

Heidi Hartmann, distinguished economist in residence at American University and emeritus founder and president of the Institute of Women’s Policy Research, discusses her work in the public policy arena, especially her studies on the gender gap and equal pay, and her on-going thoughts on women and the economics profession. 

In this episode, Hartmann and Ashenfelter discuss: 

• Hartmann’s early life in New Jersey as the daughter of German immigrants and the influence on her career of being raised by a single mother who valued education. “...my mother always believed in education, although she never went beyond high school.”
• Hartmann’s academic journey from Swarthmore to Yale and her work at the U.S. Commission of Civil Rights and the National Academy of Sciences. 
• How Hartmann advocated for the integration of the previously male-only Mory’s Club at Yale, “...we got [every woman there] to sign this petition to the economics department to please stop holding their business meetings at Mory’s.”
• The impetus for the founding of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research. “...I felt like it would be much better if it were an independent organization… I wanted to start a feminist think tank.” 
• Hartmann’s pioneering work on equal pay. “...there was a period when the conservative establishment decided to try to convince American women that unequal pay wasn't a problem…. we tried our best to help them not believe it.” 
• How Hartmann’s research on paid family medical and unpaid family leave laid the groundwork for the passage of the Clinton Administration’s Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA).  
• Hartmann’s belief that until there is a new way of looking at the field, the economics profession will continue to trail other professions in terms of gender equity. “...When you get a change in the content of the field, you'll get more of a change in who can come into the field.” 
• The areas of research and public policy that continue to need attention. “...Putting unpaid care into the macroeconomic models was something very important that could be done and could make a huge difference in economics.”

Heidi Hartmann earned her Ph.D. from Yale University in 1974. She is a Distinguished Economist in Residence at American University, a nonresident fellow at the Urban Institute, a research fellow at the Institute for Economic Equity at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, and editor of the Journal of Women, Politics & Policy. "The Work Goes On"—a podcast produced by Princeton's Industrial Relations Section (IR Section)—is an oral history of industrial relations and labor economics hosted by Princeton's Orley Ashenfelter.