Teaching Development Economics from a Gender Perspective

An undergraduate course in development economics presents an ideal opportunity to introduce students to the importance of gender differences in economic outcomes. This article argues that a systematic integration of gender into development economics courses based on standard textbooks is feasible and desirable. We provide a gendered narrative of how to engender a development economics course using as examples topics that are commonly taught, and we show how gender-aware scholarly articles, classroom activities, and assignments can complement a course based on a standard textbook or set of articles. We engender three main sections of a prototype development economics course: meanings and measures of economic development; strategies for economic development; and salient issues in development; and we add a forward-looking section on creating equitable development