For the first time in its  124-year history, Treasury will be led by a woman.

Jenny Wilkinson’s appointment is historic in its own right. Even more remarkable is the fact she joins Michele Bullock at the Reserve Bank and Danielle Wood at the Productivity Commission.

Australia’s three most powerful economic institutions are now led by women economists. In economics, this is not normal. But it certainly does matter.

Stubbornly male

Imagine if only 17% of economics professors were men. It would feel unusual; people would ask why the field was so heavily skewed. But the reality is the opposite:  83% of economics professors in Australia are male.

And yet, this imbalance is almost invisible. Women make up just about  one-third of secondary pupils studying economics and  40% of students enrolled in economics courses at university.

In the private sector, women economists are roughly  one in three.

So while the appointments of Wilkinson, Bullock and Wood feel groundbreaking, the profession as a whole remains stubbornly male. Still, the leadership story is worth celebrating. When young women see leaders who  look like them, they’re more likely to imagine themselves in those roles too.

As women increasingly take the helm, the old stereotype........

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