I would not have suspected that the professional economist gender gap is that HUGE on so many issues

Well this is just plain startling. From Huge Economist Gender Gap on Policy Issues from Mark J. Perry. As Mark Perry says:

Wow, I would not have suspected that the professional economist gender gap is that HUGE on so many issues.

My training was in economic development and I cannot say I would have ever guessed there to be such a material gender gap. I am sure that with some examination there will be an explanation here or there but still, these are wide gaps. Again, Perry:

"Despite having similar training and adherence to core economic principles and methodology," female and male economists come to completely different policy conclusions on many issues. Given the statistically significant gender differences in the way male and female economists think about the world, why would we ever expect perfect statistical gender parity in anything: career choices, academic choices, average hours worked, engineering degrees, economic degrees, computer science degrees, communication degrees, education degrees, STEM degrees and careers, scores on the math SAT, scores on the critical reading SAT, etc.?

I am struggling to both comprehend the results of this study, to interpret it and to suss out its implications.

I wonder if this isn't just a variation on the conundrum of gender differentials in income. While it remains a heavily and enthusiastically wielded cudgel, the charge of systemic salary discrimination by gender has been robustly refuted throughout the OECD. There tends to be, in any given OECD country an average gap of 20-40% between the average of all men's income and the average of all women's income. However, when you compare like-to-like, similar education, full-time work, same profession, marital status, etc. usually all the differentials shrink away completely or are at most about 5% on either side (either male or females higher paid). The difference in aggregate averages is a function of different choices - full-time vs. part-time employment, private sector vs. government, secure vs. risky, flexible vs. rigid work requirements, etc.

Look at some of the key findings and in particular look at the percentage point spreads in policy opinion between the genders.

1. By 20 percentage points, women economists are more likely to disagree that either the United States or the European Union has excessive government regulations.

2. Female economists are 24 percentage points more likely to believe the size of the U.S. government is either "too small" or "much too small."

3. Women are 41 percentage points more likely than men to favor a more progressive tax structure.

4. Female economists are 32 percentage points more likely to agree with making the U.S. income distribution more equal.

20-40% differences in policy opinions. Is it a coincidence that across OECD countries the gender income differential is 20-40% and that that difference is entirely due to work, life, and education choices - i.e. decisions made on opinions?