The Economics Major: A Cross-Sectional View

Willis, Rachel A.; Pieper, Paul J.

doi:10.2307/1183241

Cited by 10 publications

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“…The significance of this result must be tempered by the fact that there were only two liberal arts institutions in the New Jersey sample used in this study. This result is consistent with the contention of others that the decline in economics graduates is related to the decreasing interest in business education in the 1990s [Siegfried and Scott, 1994;Siegfried, 1995;Willis and Pieper, 1996;Brasfield, Harrison, McCoy, and Milkman, 1996].…”

Section: Aej June 2003 Vol 31 Nosupporting

confidence: 92%

Trends in U.S. economics majors: Why the decline in the 1990s?

Skoorka

Condon

2003

Atlantic Economic Journal

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This paper identifies factors that are important in explaining recent trends in un-The ProblemThe number of bachelor's degrees granted in economics decreased in the United States during the 1990s, with a possible reversal of that trend in the late 1990s [Siegfried, 1997;. It is therefore important to identify the salient factors that influence these trends, so that we may conjecture the root causes of them, and then identify what remedial measures can be taken, if appropriate. Although a large body of literature discusses this decrease at the national level, this literature focuses mainly on the need to upgrade teaching skills and methods in an effort to increase student interest in the study of economics [Becket, 1997;Colander, 2000]. No studies attempt to explain the decrease in economics degrees in terms of the impacts of the business cycle and of demographics on the number of degrees granted. The authors suspect that perhaps these factors are important. This paper is organized as follows. The second section justifies the use of New Jersey data in the study. The third section presents the model and discusses each of the independent variables. The fourth section discusses the empirical implementation and the fifth section discusses the results. The sixth section discusses the importance of controlling for wages and employment, and the seventh section presents conclusions.

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Section: Aej June 2003 Vol 31 Nosupporting

confidence: 92%

Trends in U.S. economics majors: Why the decline in the 1990s?

Skoorka

Condon

2003

Atlantic Economic Journal

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“…They found that, ceteris paribus, the existence of a directly competing business major reduced the number of economics bachelor's degrees awarded by more than the entire average‐size economics program. Exploring the same question, Willis and Pieper () identified the relationship between the number of business and economics majors across institutions in 1987. They too found a negative relationship between whether schools offer a business degree and the number of economics majors .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“… Willis and Pieper () control for the number of undergraduate degrees conferred, admittance selectivity, institutional type (public, private), whether the institution offered a graduate degree (MA or Ph.D), and whether the institution offered a business, business economics, or other combined economics major.…”

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confidence: 99%

The Gender Gap in Economics Degrees: An Investigation of the Role Model and Quantitative Requirements Hypotheses

Emerson¹,

McGoldrick

Siegfried³

2017

Southern Economic Journal

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Using a panel of 159 institutions over 10 years, we investigate the role model effect of women faculty and quantitative requirements on the female proportion of undergraduate economics majors. We find no evidence that female faculty attract female students. Calculus, however, does matter. A one semester calculus requirement is associated with more female majors at institutions offering business degrees and liberal arts colleges. A second semester calculus requirement deters women from majoring in economics at Ph.D.-granting universities, but is associated with more female majors at liberal arts colleges. Econometrics requirements are unrelated to the gender gap in economics majors.

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“…A few studies have been focused on students of Economics. Willis and Pieper (1996) explored whether future expected earnings and job prospects motivate students to study Economics. Further, scholars have also tried to compare it to other majors.…”

Section: Theoretical Framework 21 Choice Of a Subject At Pg Levelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Segmenting Distance Learners on the Basis of their Career Awareness and Perceived Employability: A Study of PG Economics Students of University of Jammu

Choudhary

2022

SER

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This research explored the factors affecting awareness regarding graduate career prospects for distance learners of Economics, studying at the Directorate of Distance Education, University of Jammu, India. Distance learners completed a questionnaire about students' career intentions and motivation for undertaking the subject. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Cluster Analysis were used to cluster these students into groups "based upon their perceptions and awareness" of graduate careers. The distance learners were aware of the career opportunities available to MA Economics graduates. Their awareness emerged as the most significant factor. However, they also show 'Perceived Poor job prospects'. Two clusters emerged: 'highly motivated learners' and 'moderately motivated learners'. The item 'Those studying for academics and competitive exams simultaneously don't achieve anything in life' emerged as the most influential in forming the clusters. The findings highlight an urgent need for early counselling for these students. Their competitive inclination can be seen from their response to the question 'Why distance mode was chosen', as 47% responded that it was due to their preparing for the competitive exams simultaneously. Their job preferences for the banking sector (26.3%), education sector (22.5%) or acceptance of any job (16.5%) show that their pursuit of a Master's degree in Economics was not an influencer in their career orientation. The learners have not realized their potential yet, due to which they are willing to take up any job, thus underutilizing their special skills learned after completing the Master's degree in Economics.

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The Economics Major: A Cross-Sectional View

Cited by 10 publications

References 0 publications

Trends in U.S. economics majors: Why the decline in the 1990s?

Trends in U.S. economics majors: Why the decline in the 1990s?

The Gender Gap in Economics Degrees: An Investigation of the Role Model and Quantitative Requirements Hypotheses

Segmenting Distance Learners on the Basis of their Career Awareness and Perceived Employability: A Study of PG Economics Students of University of Jammu

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