In the middle of what seems to be an endless string of depressing news lately, the announcement of the Nobel Prize in economics for Esther Duflo brought joy to my heart. Her win was covered widely in many news outlets. In case you need to learn more about her “The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2019” triumph, just google her name and viola!
Even today, the day after the announcement, I still look for clips of her interview and listen to all of them with pride in my heart. Do I know her personally? No. Am I an economist? No. Have I worked with her or with some form of her professional presence? No. So, as I do every time I experience some emotional reactions, I process my feelings to make sense of why I’m feeling what I’m feeling.
I know I am proud of the gold-standard acknowledgment that social science can truly offer scientific solutions to the world’s problems. That’s probably the researcher side in me talking. I know I am hopeful to see that there is a somewhat direct contribution of knowledge and evidence to actually easing people’s suffering. Related to those two points, if you’re interested in learning about her fascinating work, you can track it here. That’s probably my policy advocate side. Lastly, I know I am cheering for Esther for the win of women.
Esther received a call from the Nobel authority a couple of days after we celebrate the day of the girls. To me personally, it happened just a shy two weeks from when I met 12 amazing girls selected this year to participate in PLAN Indonesia’s Girls Take Over initiative. I was asked to talk about leadership with them. Esther’s success resonates with what I shared that day.
Together with a group of 15 to 17-year-old girls, we discussed the big question of, are leaders born or made? My premise was: leaders are made, and women leaders are made against all odds. I think being a leader is supported by ⅓ talent and discipline, ⅓ capacity, and ⅓ chance. Talent, discipline, capacity, and chance are all socially, politically, culturally, and economically constructed. Hence, learned capabilities and your luck in life are never gender-neutral. The construct gives us contexts that form our biases and privileges, norms from biology to policy, and implications.
In Indonesia, the prevalence of child marriage for girls is still one of the highest in the world. Most of the girls who are forced into marriage leave school and never return. They tend to have children at a young age and enter motherhood while they are still children themselves. More evidence starts to show that child marriage contributes to girls’ poverty that is passed inter-generationally (Esther’s work might speak of this more comprehensively). Child marriage rarely happens to boys. That is just one example. Others such as access to health, learning, and livelihood that is disproportionately lower for girls are another. Not to mention the higher risk for girls to be exposed to sexual violence.
I am not at all saying that it’s an apple-to-apple comparison, but where Esther Duflo is today is a result of a constant struggle against all odds. During a press conference at MIT, she shared a bit about that when asked what does being only the second woman to win the Nobel in economics mean to her.
She responded eloquently and I paraphrase here. To her, it’s not that the people giving out prizes have anything against women, but the entire population of women in economics is not big enough. She said that this also applies to other minorities (to me it can also be applied in any profession). She said something about the aggression in the environment and that the climate is tough and could be tougher for women. She took the time to remind us that the issue is not whether you are troubled by aggression or not, but why use aggression in the first place? Is it necessary? You can watch her full responses here, particularly starting minute 32:15.
Despite being a woman, Esther might enjoy other privileges. I don’t know enough about them to speculate about what they are, but I appreciate the fact that she did not dismiss those. From a friend’s social media I learned that one of the first things she did after learning about her award was to send out an email of appreciation to J-PAL teams around the world. She congratulated everyone and thanked everyone. I guess in a much more microscopic form, I could relate with her expression of gratefulness. On the Acknowledgment section in my dissertation I remember I wrote: “To me, PUSKAPA is more than an office. It’s an idea realized, a collective that I built to solve complex problems faced by children and the vulnerable in Indonesia. This dissertation is about that, and even though this degree is given to one person, in reality, it’s an accomplishment of that collective. Everyone in PUSKAPA, thank you.” And I meant every word.
I think as a woman, that’s one of our superpowers. The constant realization that our success is never our own. Perhaps we cultivate such a humble take on what we do and our accomplishments through structural obstacles we are jumping over every day. We can learn from Esther and other women leaders in dealing with the context we are in and help others to navigate through it. Understand our biases so we can minimize them and embrace our privileges so we can use it to help others. Take time to understand any problems, apply rigor in analyzing all aspects, and collaborate with others to find solutions. Also, always think about, look for, and reach out to the people who are most vulnerable.
Esther might share her prize with her two colleagues, Abhijit Banerjee and Michael Kremer. Esther definitely shares her victory with us, all the girls and women resisting, persisting, and making it in the world against all odds. Congratulations, Esther, and thank you.
For my female colleagues in PUSKAPA, for all girls and women, and for all gender minorities everywhere, let’s celebrate with Esther. Appreciating the roles of our luck and the people that have shaped our chances does not mean we should shy away from lauding our merit and hard work.
For my male colleagues in PUSKAPA and all boys and men everywhere, don’t get me wrong. Having a male privilege does not mean that your life is not hard. It’s just that the difficulties in your life are never prompted by the fact that you are a man. I invite you to continue (or start) to be the living example of optimizing your privileges to do good to others. To interact with all genders in a respectful manner. To refuse to succumb to sexism. To apply inclusive thinking and action to deliver what we promise to the people we want to help through our work.
Santi Kusumaningrum
Director of PUSKAPA
