Past Events

The Exploring Gender, Human Capital, and Labour Intersections in Economic History winter school was an interdisciplinary meeting of economic and labour historians, and development and labour economists focused on discussing the interplay between gender, human capital, and labour. To understand how these developed over the past centuries, it is necessary to understand how they are linked and interact with each other as observing them in isolation provides only a partial picture. For example, recent publications highlight the centrality of labour and its relation to human capital in the emergence of modern economic growth, as well as the variegated working experiences of individuals based on their gender and ethnicity. At the same time, the relationship between human capital and gender has attracted attention, such as in ongoing debates around the effects of human capital on fertility and marriage patterns as well as the long-run legacies of colonial education systems on gender inequality. Other dimensions, such as the value of reproductive labour, inspire researchers to address questions around the relationship between gender and labour. Hence, together in this winter school, we will explore and discuss these intersections to contribute to a broader understanding of their past development.

The winter school provided a platform for scholars to share research, approaches, and methodologies for studying labour, gender inequalities, and the evolution of human capital. It comprised two days of academic presentations and a one-day methodological workshop. The methodological workshop explored the ways in which marginalized groups can be included in linked census datasets. The methods workshop will enable researchers to develop their methodological toolkit, including techniques for exploring the winter school's core themes.

Keynotes:​

Prof. Jane Humphries | London School of Economics​

Assoc. Prof. Dácil Juif | Universidad Carlos III de Madrid​

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Methodological workshop:​

Dr. Ryah Thomas | WU Wien​

Contributions:

• How diverse was the distribution of numeracy among social groups (females, Indians, and others) in late 18th century Mexico City? (Rafael Dobado González, Universidad Complutense de Madrid)

• Take Thee to a Nunnery: Women, Convents, and Public Good Provision in Nineteenth Century France (Florentine Friedrich, London School of Economics)

• Printing and Women: The Gendered Impact of Printing Technology in Imperial China (Nina Liu, King's College London)

• Coeducation, Female Human Capital, and the Evolution of Gender Norms (Bin Huang, University of Zürich)

• Gender Pay Gap in U.S. Science (Bangh Dinh Nguyen, University of Bayreuth)

• Social Conventions and Institution Shaping Gendered Work and Mobility in Early 20th Century South West Germany (Yasmina Wardere, Hohenheim University)

• The role and determinants of women's work in the Spanish textile and footwear shadow economy, 1959-1973 (José Antonio García-Barrero, Universitat de Barcelona)

• What’s in a Daily Wage? Insights from Daily Wage Workers in Ghana and Sierra Leone in the Twentieth Century (Maria Pont Chafer, Université de Genève)

• ‘Tobacco is a man’s crop’ A historical perspective on women in tobacco cultivation in Malawi (Leoné Walters, University of Cape Town)

• Peasant Women and the Industrious Revolution in the German Southwest (Leon Zimmermann, University of Tübingen)

• Time, gendered labour and daily life in Ottoman Thessaly 1700 - 1820 (Leonidas Charampoulos, University of Athens)

• Women and the Commons: Women’s Role in Enclosure Protest and the Implications for Women’s Work and Economic Position (Jessie Wall, University of Oxford)

• The importance of the family in musical instrument manufacture in London, 1760-1860 (Jenny Nex, University of Edinburgh)

• Child labour in England and Wales, 1851-1911 (Xuesheng You, University of Cardiff)

• Investigating socio-economic status’s role in the intergenerational transmission of mortality (Kristina Thompson, Wageningen University & Research)

• Was there an economics of the family before 1870?: evidence of fertility choice in a long-running random ‘experiment’, London, c. 1760-1870 (Louis Henderson, London School of Economics)

• Agricultural Practices, Organised Workers and Female Empowerment: Evidence from Italian Mondine (Luca Bagnato, University of Milan)

• Early evidence of paid work in social reproduction: wetnurses’ wages in Italy from the 17th to the 20th century (Giuliana Freschi, Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies Pisa)

Organizers: Sarah Ferber (FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg), Sophia Jung (University of Tübingen), Moritz Kaiser (University of Tübingen),  Caroline Namubiru (University of Tübingen)