Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in the Department of Economic History

The Department's EDI Representative acts as the point of contact and is responsible for monitoring, promoting, and protecting equity, diversity and inclusiveness in the Department. Equity, diversity and inclusiveness refer primarily to matters of gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, religion and age, but also more generally to ensuring respectful working relations across departmental hierarchies.

The Department’s EDI Committee is the main forum for monitoring, promoting, and protecting equity, diversity and inclusion in the Department, among both staff and students, and across all areas of academic life. In pursuit of this mandate the committee will

• Review and monitor departmental policies and practices with regard to their impact on equity, diversity and inclusion, and, where appropriate, make recommendations for change;
• Promote a working environment in which concerns about equity, diversity and inclusion can be freely raised and discussed, and all members of the department feel themselves treated as equals;
• Identify strategies and coordinate efforts towards enhancing the diversity of the department’s student body, faculty, and staff;
• Promote a greater awareness of equity, diversity and inclusion issues;
• Explore pro-active policies that can address bias and prejudices that impact upon individuals with protected characteristics, and
• Liaise with others responsible for EDI concerns in the LSE as a whole.

The Department’s EDI representative for 2024-25 is Professor Patrick Wallis.

Understanding gender inequality has long been a central concern of economic history as a discipline. The Nobel Prize awarded to Claudia Goldin in 2023 was one expression of this, centring as it did on her work on women’s role in labour markets over time. Research in our department by Professor Sara Horrell and emeritus Centennial Professor Jane Humphries has done much to uncover the long-run development of women’s wages and living standards, and locate them in the context of changing households. They have also studied the internal dynamics of household resource allocation by gender and are currently researching the economic value of household domestic labour.

Dr. Melanie Meng Xue’s work examines the long-term consequences of affirmative action policies in imperial China, shedding light on how regional quotas influenced social mobility and the prospects of disadvantaged groups (Link). Her research on gender and economic empowerment investigates how structural changes in the economy—such as the Cotton Revolution—expanded opportunities for women in China (Link). Additionally, her work on the histories and traditions of underrepresented groups examines how cultural beliefs and narratives influence economic and social outcomes over time (Link). By integrating computational methods with historical analysis, her research offers new perspectives on how values and institutions evolve.

The connections between ethnicity and inequality and social mobility are an important focus of research in the department. Professor Neil Cummins work on the Irish in England has demonstrated the strong persistence of poverty among Irish migrants settled in England and the drivers of this. His subsequent work has explored ethnic wealth inequality between 1858 and 2018. Professor Joan Roses research into epidemics has explored how Influenza impacted economic inequality and how mortality varied between genders. 

Further Reading

Basco, Sergi & Domènech, Jordi & Rosés, Joan R., 2024. "Socioeconomic mortality differences during the Great Influenza in Spain," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).

Cummins NJ, Ó Gráda C. The Irish in England. The Journal of Economic History. 2025;85(1):180-214. doi:10.1017/S0022050724000536

Horrell, Sara, Jane Humphries and Jacob Weisdorf, “Beyond the male breadwinner: life-cycle living standards of intact and disrupted working families, 1260-1850”, Economic History Review, 2021, 75, pp.530-60

Horrell, Sara, Jane Humphries and Jacob Weisdorf ‘Family living standards over the long-run, England 1280-1850’, Past & Present, 2021, 250, pp.87-134

Horrell, Sara, Jane Humphries and Deborah Oxley “Gender bias in nineteenth-century England: Evidence from factory children”, Economics and Human Biology, 2016, 22, pp.47-64.

Horrell, Sara and Deborah Oxley “Bringing home the bacon? Regional nutrition, stature and gender in the Industrial Revolution”, Economic History Review, vol. 65, 14, November 2012, pp.1354-79, with Deborah Oxley.

Horrell, Sara and Deborah Oxley (1999) “Crust or crumb?: Intrahousehold resource allocation and male breadwinning in late Victorian Britain”, Economic History Review LII, pp.494-522

Humphries, Jane (2024b) “Careworn: the economic history of caring labour”, Journal of Economic History, 84, pp.319-51

Humphries, Jane and Ryah Thomas (2023) “’The best job in the world’: breadwinning and the capture of household labour in nineteenth and early-twentieth century British coal mining”, Feminist Economics, 29, pp.97-140

Basco, Sergi & Domènech, Jordi & Rosés, Joan R., 2021. "The redistributive effects of pandemics: Evidence on the Spanish flu," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).

Xue, Melanie Meng and Zhang, Boxiao, The Short- and Long-Run Effects of Affirmative Action: Evidence from Imperial China (December 31, 2021). http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3997918

Xue, Melanie Meng, High-Value Work and the Rise of Women: The Cotton Revolution and Gender Equality in China (February 23, 2024). http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2389218

The School’s commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion is one of its six strategic priorities, as highlighted in the LSE Strategy 2030, and ‘equity of respect and opportunity’ is one of the core principles set out in the School’s Ethics Code.

LSE’s EDI Office is the primary contact point for EDI issues throughout the School.

The EDI team can be reached at edi@lse.ac.uk.

LSE has convened a self-assessment team which works towards the Advance HE’s Race Equality Charter Mark.

The Race Equality Charter is focussed on improving the representation, progression and success of black and minority ethnic (BME) staff and students within Higher Education.

Athena SWAN is a national charter mark – run by Advance HE – that recognises the advancement of gender equality in higher education: representation, progression and success for all.

The School it proud to have been awarded the bronze Athena SWAN award.

In the Department of Economic History we firmly believe in creating a safe, inclusive, and supportive environment for all students, staff, and faculty members. We are committed to supporting the LGBTQ+ community, and we actively work to ensure that every individual feels respected, valued, and empowered.

LSE works with AccessAble to maximise independence and choice for disabled people, to develop online access guides to all the School’s buildings and route maps around campus.

Find out more about LSE's Disability and Wellbeing service here.