Göttingen woman wins KfW funding award for groundbreaking dissertation on Brazil

Göttingen woman wins KfW funding award for groundbreaking dissertation on Brazil

Dr. Laura Barros, a committed development economist at the University of Göttingen, was awarded the KfW Development Prize on June 28, 2025. Her prize for the dissertation is entitled “Socio-economic and political consequences of labor market shocks: Evidence from Brazil”. In this dissertation, Barros examines the impact of labor market shocks, particularly mass layoffs, on gender and ethnic wage inequalities and their policy consequences. The prize, worth 5,000 euros, is awarded by KfW Bank in collaboration with the Development Economics Committee of the Verein für Socialpolitik e.V. to honor young scientists whose work demonstrates both academic excellence and practical relevance.

Barros, who is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Professorship of International Economic Policy at the University of Göttingen, emphasizes in her findings that trade liberalization can increase discrimination against women from disadvantaged minorities. Furthermore, it shows that right-wing political platforms gain influence where men are affected by larger labor market shocks. Her final chapter highlights how negative economic shocks significantly influence the composition of local political bodies and local politics.

Other award winners and the award ceremony

During the annual conference of the Development Economics Committee of the Association for Social Policy in Frankfurt am Main, the prize was not only awarded to Barros. Second place went to Florian A. Münch from the Technical University of Berlin for his dissertation on “Industrial Policy and Causal Inference”, while Julian Rose, who holds a doctorate from the University of Passau and the RWI, also received second place for his dissertation “Poor Economics and the Long Term: Empirical Essays on Energy and Economic Poverty”. The award ceremony took place in June 2025 in the presence of well-known researchers and official representatives, including Matthias Schündeln, chairman of the selection committee, and Jochen Kluve from KfW.

This award not only refers to outstanding research work, but also highlights the urgent challenges in development research. Women face a variety of disadvantages, particularly in the labor market, as discussed in a report by the Hans Böckler Foundation. The increasing wage gap, which was found to be 18% in Germany in 2022, further highlights the need for changes at operational, legal and social levels.

Challenges of gender equality

Women continue to be severely disadvantaged in terms of wages, opportunities for advancement and care work. Various factors, such as inadequate legal regulations and stereotypical beliefs about the gender-specific evaluation of work, mean that social and care professions in which many women work are often undervalued. Collective bargaining coverage is falling and transparent pay structures are a direct result of this.

The gender care gap was around 44% in 2022 and is also reflected in the unequal distribution of family responsibilities between the genders. On average, women work 30 hours per week and men only 21 hours per week on family and domestic tasks. Initiatives such as “Equal Pay Day” and “Equal Care Day” as well as the “Equal Pay Check” attempt to make these inequalities visible and combat them. Nevertheless, progress towards gender equality is anything but rapid.

A multitude of challenges remain to be overcome, not least in leadership positions. The proportion of women in these positions is only 29%, and on the boards of the top 200 companies it is only 18%. Initiatives such as “Women on Supervisory Boards” attempt to break the glass ceiling.

Given the complex topics that Laura Barros addresses in her dissertation, her research has the potential to provide important impetus for political and social change. Your prize and the recognized challenges of gender equality illustrate how closely science and social issues are linked.