Myra Strober

Research Statement

Myra Strober’s research focuses on the economics of work and family. She has written on gender issues at work, occupational segregation, women in the professions and management, the economics of childcare, and feminist economics. She has also been an expert witness in cases involving the valuation of work in the home, sex discrimination, and sexual harassment, and has been a consultant for several companies on improved utilization of women in management. Her most recent work is on interdisciplinarity in academia.

Bio

Myra Strober is a labor economist and Professor Emerita at the School of Education at Stanford University.  She is also Professor of Economics at the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University (by courtesy).  Myra’s research and consulting focus on gender issues at the workplace, work and family, and multidisciplinarity in higher education. She is the author of numerous articles on occupational segregation, women in the professions and management, the economics of childcare, feminist economics and the teaching of economics. Myra’s most recent book is a memoir, Sharing the Work: What My Family and Career Taught Me About Breaking Through (and Holding the Door Open for Others) 2016). She is also co-author, with Agnes Chan, of The Road Winds Uphill All the Way: Gender, Work, and Family in the United States and Japan (1999).

Myra is currently teaching a course on work and family at the Graduate School of Business.

Myra was the founding director of the Stanford Center for Research on Women (now the Michelle R. Clayman Institute for Gender Research).  She was also the first chair of the National Council for Research on Women, a consortium of about 65 U.S. centers for research on women. Now the Council has more than 100 member centers. Myra was President of the International Association for Feminist Economics, and Vice President of the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund (now Legal Momentum). She was an associate editor of Feminist Economics and a member of the Board of Trustees of Mills College.

Myra has consulted with several corporations on improved utilization of women in management and on work-family issues. She has also been an expert witness in cases involving the valuation of work in the home, sex discrimination, and sexual harassment.

At the School of Education, Myra was Director of the Joint Degree Program, a master’s program in which students receive both an MA in education and an MBA from the Graduate School of Business. She also served as the Chair of the Program in Administration and Policy Analysis, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, and Acting Dean. Myra was on leave from Stanford for two years as the Program Officer in Higher Education at Atlantic Philanthropic Services (now Atlantic Philanthropies).

Myra holds a BS degree in industrial and labor relations from Cornell University, an MA in economics from Tufts University, and a Ph.D. in economics from MIT.

Academic Degrees

• PhD in Economics, Massachussetts Institute of Technology, 1969
• MA, Tufts University
• BS, Cornell University

Academic Appointments

• At Stanford University since 1972
• Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Stanford School of Education
• Assistant Professor, Stanford GSB, 1972–1979
• Lecturer, University of California at Berkeley, 1970–1972
• Assistant. Professor, University of Maryland, 1967–1970

Professional Experience

• President, International Association for Feminist Economics, 1996-98
• Member of the College Board Committee to Develop the Advanced Placement Examination in Economics, l987-88
• Member of the National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Medicine, Committee on the Allied Health Professions, l986-88
• Chair of the Board, National Council for Research on Women, 1982-84
• Member, Advisory Board, State of California Office of Economic Policy Planning and Research, 1978-80
• Founding Director, Center for Research on Women, (Now the Clayman Institute for Research on Gender), 1974-76; 1979-84
• Co-Organizer of Stanford Business Conference on Women in Management, April, 1974
• Founding Member of the American Economic Association Committee on the Status of Women in the Economics Profession, 1972-75

Awards and Honors

• Excellence in Education Award, Northern California NOW, 2002
• Tamkang University Lecturer, Taipei, Taiwan, 2000
• Downing Fellow in Economics, Melbourne University, 1995
• School of Education Award for Excellence in Teaching, 1992, 1998
• Stanford University Fellow, 1975-77
• Mortarboard, 1962
• Listed in Who’s Who, Who’s Who of American Women, and Who’s Who in the West

Teaching

Degree Courses

2016-17

GSBGEN 576: Work and Family

This course examines the strategies that highly educated women and men use to combine work and family and the strategies that managers and policy makers can use to help others strike a balance. Topics include the tradeoffs in becoming a stay-at-...

GSBGEN 576: Work and Family

This course examines the strategies that highly educated women and men use to combine work and family and the strategies that managers and policy makers can use to help others strike a balance. Topics include the tradeoffs in becoming a stay-at-...

GSBGEN 576: Work and Family

This course examines the strategies that highly educated women and men use to combine work and family and the strategies that managers and policy makers can use to help others strike a balance. Topics include the tradeoffs in becoming a stay-at-...

GSBGEN 576: Work and Family

This course examines the strategies that highly educated women and men use to combine work and family and the strategies that managers and policy makers can use to help others strike a balance. Topics include the tradeoffs in becoming a stay-at-...

GSBGEN 576: Work and Family

This course examines the strategies that highly educated women and men use to combine work and family and the strategies that managers and policy makers can use to help others strike a balance. Topics include the tradeoffs in becoming a stay-at-...

In the Media

Paid parental leave is actually great for business

Quartz, May 9, 2016

Stanford labor economist talks about uphill struggle as feminist scholar

Stanford News, April 15, 2016

Rare Breed: Feminist Economist

The Clayman Institute for Gender Research, November 16, 2012

Professor Myra Strober honored for professional women's advocacy and mentorship.

Valuing the Invisible Work of Women

The Chistian Science Monitor, December 16, 1998

Insights by Stanford Business

writtenSeven Most-Watched Videos of 2017

December 4, 2017

From AI to leadership lessons to the secret lives of MBA students, here are the videos that grabbed your attention this year.

videoAchieving Balance In Work and Life

August 22, 2017

The constant pull between career and family is stressing us out. Professor of Economics Myra Strober says it doesn’t have to be that way.

videoThe Case for National Childcare

July 28, 2017

Professor Emerita Myra Strober on why subsidized childcare would benefit us all.

writtenEquity: The Recommended List

August 30, 2016

Stanford GSB professors suggest articles and books related to the concept of “equity.”

writtenHow Companies Can Solve the Pay Equity Problem

May 18, 2016

A labor economist reveals how to close the pay gap.

writtenAn Economist’s Take on Why Parental Leave Matters

May 5, 2016

Business prospers with a paid family leave policy. Here’s why.

writtenMyra Strober: How the Workplace Works — or Doesn't — for Families

May 31, 2013

We've made progress, says the economist, but the system and potential role models still sometimes fail us.

writtenAcademic Researchers Need to Learn to Talk Across Disciplines

November 1, 2010

A professor argues explores why it is difficult for researchers to learn to talk to peers from other areas of academia.

writtenDon't Sell Yourself Short Advise Women in Management Banquet Speakers

May 1, 2007

Financial pioneer Michelle Clayman says have the courage to make hard choices and change your mind when needed.