Expanding and Diversifying the Pool of Undergraduates who Study Economics: Insights from a New Introductory Course at Harvard / Amanda Bayer, Gregory Bruich, Raj Chetty, Andrew Housiaux.

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Bayer, Amanda

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Material type: Text

TextSeries: Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) ; no. w26961.Publication details: Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2020.Description: 1 online resource: illustrations (black and white)Subject(s):

A2 - Economic Education and Teaching of Economics

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Abstract: There is widespread concern that economics does not attract as broad or diverse a pool of talent as it could. For example, less than one-third of undergraduates who receive degrees in economics are women, significantly lower than in math or statistics. This article presents a case study of a new introductory undergraduate course at Harvard, "Using Big Data to Solve Economic and Social Problems," that enrolled 400 students, achieved nearly a 50-50 gender balance, and was among the highest-rated courses in the college. We first summarize the course's content and pedagogical approach. We then illustrate how this approach differs from that taken in traditional courses by showing how canonical topics - income inequality, tax incidence, and adverse selection - are taught differently. Then, drawing upon students' comments and prior research on effective teaching practices, we identify elements of the course's approach that appear to underlie its success: connecting the material to students' own experiences; teaching skills that have social and career value; and engaging students in scientific investigation of real-world problems. We conclude by discussing how these ideas for improving instruction in economics could be applied in other courses and tested empirically in future research.

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Item type	Home library	Collection	Call number	Status	Date due	Barcode	Item holds
Working Paper	Biblioteca Digital	Colección NBER	nber w26961 (Browse shelf(Opens below))	Not For Loan

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Previous	nber w26959 The Labor Market Returns to Advanced Degrees /	nber w2696 Proprietary Public Finance, Political Competition, and Reputation /	nber w26960 International Trade and Social Connectedness /	nber w26961 Expanding and Diversifying the Pool of Undergraduates who Study Economics: Insights from a New Introductory Course at Harvard /	nber w26962 Disasters Everywhere: The Costs of Business Cycles Reconsidered /	nber w26963 Reversing Reserves /	nber w26964 Technological Innovation and Labor Income Risk /	Next

April 2020.

There is widespread concern that economics does not attract as broad or diverse a pool of talent as it could. For example, less than one-third of undergraduates who receive degrees in economics are women, significantly lower than in math or statistics. This article presents a case study of a new introductory undergraduate course at Harvard, "Using Big Data to Solve Economic and Social Problems," that enrolled 400 students, achieved nearly a 50-50 gender balance, and was among the highest-rated courses in the college. We first summarize the course's content and pedagogical approach. We then illustrate how this approach differs from that taken in traditional courses by showing how canonical topics - income inequality, tax incidence, and adverse selection - are taught differently. Then, drawing upon students' comments and prior research on effective teaching practices, we identify elements of the course's approach that appear to underlie its success: connecting the material to students' own experiences; teaching skills that have social and career value; and engaging students in scientific investigation of real-world problems. We conclude by discussing how these ideas for improving instruction in economics could be applied in other courses and tested empirically in future research.