Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is arguably the most powerful economist in the world, making her an excellent role model for women in the early stages of a career in the field. Only one problem: She’s one of the very few women at the top to look up to.

While other professions with relatively low shares of women, like tech and engineering, have made strides in recent decades, economics remains overwhelmingly male-dominated, from top to bottom, writes economist Veronika Dolar. For example, just 15% of full professors are women, and less than a third of doctorate degrees in economics go to women.

It’s a complex problem. But Dolar points to something she and most other female colleagues have experienced firsthand – sexism in economics departments.

Measures put in place to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 virus have sent some commodity prices tumbling. They have also disrupted global supply chains. For countries like Ghana heavily dependent on exports of cocoa and oil, the impact has been huge. Sophie van Huellen and Nana Amma Asante-Poku explain the extent to which the pandemic has affected Ghana.

Bryan Keogh

Senior Editor, Economy + Business

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is the only woman who has chaired the Federal Reserve in its over 100-year history. AP Photo/Annie Rice

The gender gap in economics is huge – it’s even worse than tech

Veronika Dolar, SUNY Old Westbury

Although STEM professions, especially tech fields, receive most of the criticism, the numbers show economics is actually worse.

Many countries in Africa are dependent on commodities export. Synergos/Wikimedia Commons

How commodity exporting countries like Ghana have been hit by COVID-19

Sophie Van Huellen, SOAS, University of London; Nana Amma Asante-Poku, University of Ghana

Ghana remains heavily dependent on primary commodity exports for foreign exchange earnings.

Health + Medicine

It’s not just a social media problem – how search engines spread misinformation

Chirag Shah, University of Washington

Search engines, like social media algorithms, get you to click on links by learning what other people click on. Enticing misinformation often comes out on top.

First ever national survey shows the extent of South Africa’s TB problem

Emily B. Wong, Africa Health Research Institute (AHRI); Alison Grant, Africa Health Research Institute (AHRI)

South Africa’s long-awaited TB prevalence survey results were recently released. They reveal that the country has a much higher burden of TB than previously thought.

Politics + Society

Bangladesh at 50: A nation created in violence and still bearing scars of a troubled birth

Tazreena Sajjad, American University School of International Service

Pakistan, created during the 1947 partition, comprised two geographical areas, separated by over a thousand miles. The fault lines between the two regions resulted in the birth of Bangladesh.

South Africa’s Goodwill Zwelithini: the Zulu king without a kingdom

Gerhard Maré, University of KwaZulu-Natal

The king retained his position because undemocratic centralised power is too big a temptation for those who seek to benefit.

En Français

Loi « Sécurité globale » : un film documentaire pour décrypter trois points sensibles

Karine Parrot, CY Cergy Paris Université; Lucie Cluzel, Université Paris Nanterre – Université Paris Lumières; Ludivine Richefeu, CY Cergy Paris Université; Noé Wagener, Université de Rouen Normandie; Raphaële Parizot, Université Paris Nanterre – Université Paris Lumières

Plusieurs mesures du projet de loi Sécurité globale sont perçues comme particulièrement problématiques par l’opinion. Décryptage de chercheurs ayant participé à un documentaire sur le sujet.

Chinafrique : le temps des problèmes

Thierry Vircoulon, Université de Paris

Au cours des vingt dernières années, les relations sino-africaines n’ont cessé de se renforcer. Mais, dernièrement, on constate une méfiance accrue des deux côtés.