Apart from those British women economists already mentioned, two early ones are Peter Ady (don't be put off by her parents' eccentric choice of name) and Marian Bowley, both of whom became academics in 1947. Bowley may have the distinction (this needs to be researched) of being the first woman economist in the UK to be appointed to a Chair (in the UK the title Professor is restricted to this grade, which until the 1990s accounted for only about 10 per cent of academic staff - about 20 per cent now).  After her, the next woman to rise to Professor in the UK was Edith Penrose, appointed the year before Joan Robinson got hers (1964 and 1965 respectively). After that, according to a survey of all British University Economics Departments conducted by Ruth Towse for the RES, there were no women Professors or Readers (the grade before Professor) until I was made Reader in 1984. Denise Osborne became Professor of Econometrics in 1992 and I became Professor of Economics in 1993. At last count there are at least a dozen women Professors now.

In Britain the PhD was not the union card it has become, following practice in the US. The University of London rejected its introduction when it was first proposed in 1913, on the ground that it would undermine existing doctorates, which were applied for on the basis of a portfolio of publications later in an academic's career. The PhD was brought in the following year, but it long had a slightly dubious reputation, as only those whose first degrees were not sufficiently distinguished would seek them. So it shouldn't be taken as a criterion of academic legitimacy in the UK until the 1970s or so. Keynes didn't have one, nor did Joan Robinson - nor do I, probably one of the last of this kind.

There are Wikipedia entries for Ady, Bowley and Penrose. The dates of Marian Bowley's promotions are not given; I'll find out from UCL or U of L records. 

In the political sphere, there was Barbara, later Baroness, Wootton. Wikipedia describes her as a sociologist and criminologist, but she did substantial work in economics, particularly economic planning. She became Professor (of what, it does not say) at Bedford College, also part of the U of L, in 1948. 

vc

Victoria Chick
Emeritus Professor of Economics
University College London
Gower Street
London WC1E 6BT
direct line: +44 (0)20 7679 4651
________________________________________
From: Societies for the History of Economics [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Edith Kuiper [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 20 August 2012 03:35
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [SHOE] the first women economist: help

A good start would be A Biographical Dictionary of Women Economists, by Robert Dimand, Mary Ann Dimand and Evelyn Forget (eds.) (2000) Cheltenham: Edward Elgar. The introduction provides a short history of women in economics. See also Madden, K., Seiz, J. and M. Pujol (2004) Bibliography of Female Economic Thought 1770-1940, London and New York: Routledge.

Early women economists with tenure would be Edith Abbott (2nd women in with PhD in economics, position at department Social Economy, University of Chicago), Hazel Kyrk and Margaret Reid, both also at the University of Chicago. When you count in women with an appointment in an economics department, Mary Paley Marshall could qualify, as she taught in 1878 at the University of Bristol (though without PhD) (see Dimand, Dimand & Forget, 2000).

At LSE there was a group of economic historians who did great work, but would they be considered economists? See Berg, Maxine (1992) “The First Women Economic Historians”, The Economic History Review, New Series, Vol. 45, No. 2, pp. 308-329.

The question of what would be considered economics/an economist is crucial here. Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote "Women & economics" (1899) but did not have a position at an university. Does that make her not-an-economist? Because women obtained access to higher education only after 1870, and it took until the early 20th century before they could obtain a PhD in economics and even longer before they could obtain an academic position in an economics department (see great overview of women’s articles in economic journals in a working paper by Peter Groenewegen & Susan King, 1994). The first woman with tenure position in an economics department will probably be even later. Then you may indeed end up with Joan Robinson as one of the first.

Women’s economic writings have often been on topics such as ‘Economics of the Domestic Sector’ and ‘Economics of Emancipation’ which were not part of  or covered by JEL or its forerunners. See Madden, Kirsten (2002) Female Contributions to Economics Thought, 1900-1940, History of Political Economy, 34, 1, 1 – 30.

Some good additional sources are
Robert Dimand and Chris Nyland (2003) The Status of Women in Classical Economics Thought, Edward Elgar.
Dimand, Mary Ann, Dimand, Robert, and Evelyn L. Forget (eds) (1995) Women of  Value. Feminist Essays on the History of Women in Economics, Aldershot, UK: Edward Elgar.

There is quite some work by women economic writers, who did not have an academic education or an academic career. An introduction on the topic and a selection of these texts can be found in
Barker, D.K. & Kuiper, E. (2010) Feminist Economics, Routledge Major Works Series, London, New York: Routledge. Volume 1 contains texts by women economic writers from 1800-1960.

Edith Kuiper
________________________________
Date: Sun, 19 Aug 2012 18:45:25 +0200
From: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [SHOE] the first women economist: help
To: [log in to unmask]


I'm writing a paper with a colleague (Smerilli) on the women contribution to economics (and more in general on the feminine dimension in economics), but it is very difficult to find a sort of history of the early days, because most of the references I found begin the history with Johan Robinson, Anna Schwartz,  plus some references to Mill's and Marshall's wives. In particular I'm interested in knowing who was the first academic woman with a tenure/position in universities in England or US or other countries.
Thanks
Luigino