1927 – 2015
Barbara R. Bergmann (1927–2015) was an American feminist economist and professor at American University and the University of Maryland, widely recognized for her pioneering work on occupational segregation and gender discrimination in labor markets. She developed the 'overcrowding hypothesis' to explain how exclusion of women from male-dominated occupations suppresses female wages, and was a leading advocate for childcare policy reform and affirmative action as tools for economic equity.
Developed the occupational overcrowding hypothesis explaining the gender wage gap through labor market segregation
Authored The Economic Emergence of Women (1986), a landmark text in feminist economics
Served as president of the Eastern Economic Association and the International Association for Feminist Economics
Championed universal childcare as an economic policy necessary for gender equality
Advanced simulation methods in economics through microsimulation modeling of the U.S. economy