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Field
Abstract
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Before
Nationally, there are about three undergraduate men for every one woman who major in economics. The gender disparity is due to many factors but is exacerbated by incomplete information about the application of economics beyond business and finance, and a lack of role models and mentors. The Challenge is an RCT that will test the effects of deliberate intervention strategies by economics departments at 20 randomly selected schools to recruit and retain female majors. The experiment will determine whether there are any detectable benefits of this intentional effort by comparing the outcomes at the treatment schools with those at control schools and by comparing outcomes at treatment schools for entering cohorts before and after treatment.
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After
Nationwide today, there are about three undergraduate men for every one woman who major in economics. The gender disparity is due to many factors but is exacerbated by incomplete information about the application of economics beyond business and finance, a lack of role models and mentors, and the limit on evidence-based material presented in introductory courses. The UWE Challenge is an RCT that will test the effects of deliberate intervention strategies by economics departments at 20 randomly selected institutions to recruit and retain female majors. The experiment will determine whether there are any detectable benefits of this intentional effort by comparing the outcomes at the treatment schools with those at control schools, and by comparing outcomes at treatment schools for entering cohorts before and after treatment.
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Intervention (Public)
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Before
The study will provide grant money ($12,500 total) and guidance to schools/departments to implement various intervention programs aimed at recruiting more undergraduate women into the economics major. Each school/department will design their own intervention program, although some elements may be similar between schools/departments. Interventions can be classified into one or more of the following three categories depending on the area that they target:
- Better Information: Without accurate information about the broader application of economics (e.g., beyond finance and consulting), women are more likely to major in less rigorous fields, often within the social sciences or humanities, that seem to provide more application to the theory behind economics.
- Mentoring and Role Models: Women are more sensitive to their grades in introductory courses when choosing their major than are men. The creation of networks among students within the department and showing support for their decision to major in the field has been effective in recruiting underrepresented minorities.
- Content and Presentation Style: On average, female undergraduates are less confident about their quantitative skills than are men even if they are equally able and prepared. Their lack of confidence may diminish their belief that economics fits their personal strengths and abilities.
These three areas were identified based on discussion with a board of experts, consisting of economics educators and experts in economics pedagogy, at the November 2014 Planning Group Meeting, as well as focus groups conducted with students at some of the treatment institutions. Actual interventions can include, but are not limited to:
- inviting alumni/guest speakers who work in diverse fields other than finance and consulting for a lecture series or a panel discussion about the application of economics in their work;
- increasing the number of female TAs/graduate students/older undergraduate mentors;
- helping students find summer jobs that value economics, are dynamic, and include human contact;
- having informal lunches with professors and TAs;
- supporting independent/group projects in various sub-fields such as health, poverty, crime, inequality, sports, and others, or supplementing introductory and intermediate theory economics courses with modules in these sub-fields;
- making sections more conductive to learning for students with different skill levels, styles of learning, and interests,
and many more.
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After
In January 2015, an initial notice about the UWE Challenge was sent out to institutions in the United States that graduated at least fifteen (15) economics majors a year. About half of the institutions replied with their interest in the project, and from the "treatable sample" of interested schools, twenty (20) were randomly selected for the treatment group of the project. Remaining schools were designated as control institutions. (See Experimental Design for more details.)
For the schools in the treatment arm, the study provided grant payments ($12,500 total) for meeting stated goals and guidance to implement various interventions aimed at recruiting more undergraduate women into the economics major. A list of interventions, compiled by an advisory group to the project in November 2014, was presented to the departments as a starting point, but each department was able to select and, if necessary, design their own set of interventions. Interventions were classified into one or more of the following three categories depending on the area that they target:
- Better Information: Without accurate information about the broader application of economics (e.g., beyond finance and consulting), women are more likely to major in less rigorous fields, often within the social sciences or humanities, that seem to provide more application to the theory behind economics.
- Mentoring and Role Models: Women are more sensitive to their grades in introductory courses when choosing their major than are men. The creation of networks among students within the department and showing support for their decision to major in the field has been effective in recruiting underrepresented minorities in STEM fields and may also be effective in economics.
- Content and Presentation Style: On average, female undergraduates are less confident about their quantitative skills than are men even if they are equally able and prepared. Their lack of confidence may diminish their belief that economics fits their personal strengths and abilities. Including more evidence-based material and incorporating projects int the curriculum may help the students to challenge this image of their suitability for and interest in economics.
Actual interventions can include, but are not limited to:
- inviting alumni/guest speakers who work in diverse fields other than finance and consulting for a lecture series or a panel discussion about the application of economics in their work;
- increasing the number of female TAs/graduate students/older undergraduate mentors;
- helping students find summer jobs that value economics, are dynamic, and include human contact;
- having informal lunches with professors and TAs;
- supporting independent/group projects in various sub-fields such as health, poverty, crime, inequality, sports, and others, or supplementing introductory and intermediate theory economics courses with modules in these sub-fields;
- making sections more conductive to learning for students with different skill levels, styles of learning, and interests,
and many more.
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Field
Primary Outcomes (End Points)
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Before
The key outcome variable is the number of students graduating with a major in economics, by gender. If such data is available, the study will account for the number of economics majors who transferred to the institution after their sophomore year: these students would have taken their introductory and intermediate econ courses at a separate institution, and departmental interventions are less likely to have a full effect on their choice of major.
The study will also collect the following information from the schools.
- the number of students graduating with a minor in economics, by gender;
- the number of students enrolled in the principles of economics sequence, by gender by class year;
- the number of students enrolled in the intermediate theory sequence, by gender by class year.
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After
The key outcome variable is the number of students graduating with a major in economics, by gender. If such data is available, the study will account for the number of economics majors who transferred to the institution after their sophomore year: these students would have taken their introductory and intermediate economics courses at a separate institution, and UWE interventions are less likely to have an effect, if any, on their choice of major.
The study will also collect the following information from the schools.
- the number of students graduating with a minor in economics, by gender;
- the number of students enrolled in the principles of economics sequence, by gender by class rank;
- the number of students enrolled in the intermediate theory sequence, by gender by class rank.
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