Goldin, who received her B.A. from Cornell in 1967 and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1972, says that in her research as an economic historian, she found an abiding interest in the major changes to the female labor force that have taken place through the course of American history.

“Women’s economic role appeared to be rapidly changing. Yet I quickly came to realize that change was not as precipitous or as recent as most thought,” says Goldin, whose research includes includes a 1990 book “Understanding the Gender Gap: An Economic History of American Women.”

In light of the complex historical roots behind women’s roles in the labor force, the national media’s intense focus on Summers’ remarks and very recent trends is overly simplistic, Goldin says.

“What happened with President Summers is a drop in the bucket,” she says.

DRAWN INTO THE DEBATE

While Goldin says she does not consider “innate” differences between men and women a satisfactory explanation for the underrepresentation of women in various careers and academic fields, the point seems to be moot—Goldin argues that Summers was not talking about “innate” differences at all in his NBER remarks.

“People may hate him for various reasons but it would be good if they at least looked at the transcripts and quoted him properly,” says Goldin.

Goldin acknowledges that one reason why economists in particular have rallied behind Summers is that he is “a member of our tribe” and that “he’s using analysis that we can understand,” but she says that Summers cited well-established data about variance in high school students’ math test scores that has been used in “countless scholarly papers.”

She says that his economic analysis was sound and nuanced, if not communicated in a language that would be well-received by his audience.

“The point is what is it that you’re saying, but not how it is that you’re saying it,” Goldin says.

“He put in words what I think about all the time, and he put them in a better-organized talk than I could ever give. It was completely extemporaneous,” she adds. “But there was nothing new. There was nothing new.”

HARVARD AND FEMALE FACULTY

Goldin’s support of Summers does not mean, however, that she sees no problem in female hiring. In recent months, she has emphasized the University’s need to conduct research into the long-term trends of the representation of women in its Faculty and to make a sustained effort to identify and address challenges faced by female academics.

“I think that universities and other employees and employees should make life easier so that they have happier workers with families,” Goldin says.

Spurred by their previous research and urged by Summers, who met with the pair last summer, Goldin and Katz have started a project to study the career paths of thousands of Harvard graduates to track and explain any gender gaps in various career fields.