How LT principles can improve diversity, inclusiveness, and student interest

Abstract

Economics has a well-documented problem with diversity. Literacy-targeted (LT) courses designed for a broader spectrum of students have the potential to help address the underrepresentation of women and racial/ethnic minorities in the discipline. The authors of this article explore how, by using the LT approach, introductory economics instructors can employ discussion, data, media reports, experiments, and other activities to broaden the applications of classroom content, including addressing issues of racism and discrimination.

Keywords:

• Diversity
• introductory economics
• literacy-targeted

JEL CODES:

• A22 J15 J16

Acknowledgments

The authors thank discussant Abdullah Al Bahrani and other attendees at the 2021 CTREE conference and the 2022 ASSA meetings for helpful comments. They also thank Arkey Barnett and Joshua Thomas for excellent research assistance.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1 Authors’ calculations using U.S. Census Bureau’s (n.d.) Population Division 2020–2022 data.

2 For the academic years ending 2017–21, the average share of economics doctorates earned by U.S. citizens and permanent residents going to Black, Latinx, and Native American scholars was 9.5 and 10.9 percent in the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) Completions and the National Science Foundation (NSF) Survey of Earned Doctorates data, respectively. These numbers are little changed from 20 years prior. For the academic years ending 1997–2001, the figures were 7.4 and 8.2 percent. Averages based on authors’ calculations using IPEDS 1995–2021 (U.S. Department of Education n.d.) and NSF (n.d.) 1980–2021 data.

3 We refer to Black, Latinx, and Native American persons as underrepresented minorities in economics.

4 Percentages are of degrees earned by U.S. citizens and permanent residents. Authors’ calculations using IPEDS 1995–2021 (U.S. Department of Education n.d.) and U.S. Census Bureau’s (n.d.) Population Division 2020–2022 data. Due to data limitations, we sum based on majors, and not on bachelor’s degrees. If a student receives a bachelor’s degree with two STEM majors, they are double counted.

5 At Harvard, underrepresented minority (URM) students comprised 20 percent of undergraduates and 18 percent of those taking principles during 2018–20 (Bayer, Bruich, et al. 2020). At Swarthmore, URM students made up 21.2 percent of the undergraduate population and 15.8 percent of those taking principles during 2017–19 (Bayer, Bhanot, et al. 2020). This is not a recent phenomenon. Over the period 1987–2010, Emerson and McGoldrick (2019) report that URM students at six southern schools comprised 9 percent of principles courses, compared with 12 percent of the student population (authors’ calculations using IPEDS 1995–2021 data (U.S. Department of Education n.d.), while Mumford and Ohland (2011) report only a small degree of underrepresentation—12.9 percent compared to 13.5 percent—for a slightly different set of six southern schools during the period 1990–2003.

6 The research was declared exempt by Yale’s Human Research Protection Program Institutional Review Boards (IRB). IRB Protocol ID: 2000025813. Survey respondents consented online. Interview respondents provided verbal consent. All quotes from the respondents used in the current article are from the unpublished interview data unless otherwise noted.

7 Authors’ calculations using IPEDS 1995–2021 data (U.S. Department of Education n.d.).

8 At UT, students who took the LT version of the course were less likely to hit the grade threshold (which differed by class type) necessary for continuing on to intermediate-level economics. At UNC, there did not seem to be an introductory grade gate, but students in the LT course were slightly more likely (36 vs. 34 percent) to go on to the intermediate level.

9 See Smith and Rosalsky (2020) for a discussion of racial inequalities in CARES Act funds distribution. Data cited therein are from surveys fielded in May 2020. The Small Business Association does not collect race data. In May of 2021, the Center for Investigative Reporting analyzed PPP data by neighborhood and found that in top metropolitan areas, businesses in white neighborhoods were 1.5 to 2 times as likely to receive PPP funds as businesses in Black and Latinx neighborhoods (Morel, Al Elew and Harris 2021).

10 Eddy and Hogan (2014) and Theobald et al. (2020) provide evidence of the benefits of active learning for underrepresented and first-generation students in undergraduate biology.

11 The Economics Network https://www.economicsnetwork.ac.uk/themes/games and Science Education Resource Center (SERC) https://serc.carleton.edu/sp/library/simulations/‌examples.html (both accessed May 6, 2021) are two examples.

12 Many universities have teacher and learning centers offering additional support. See, for example, the Web site of the University of Michigan’s Center for Research on Learning and Teaching Guidelines for Discussing Difficult or High Stakes Topics (https://crlt.umich.edu/publinks/generalguidelines) and Handling Difficult Topics in Discussion (https://crlt.umich.edu/tstrategies/tshctd) and the University of Indiana Bloomington’s Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning Managing Difficult Classroom Discussions (https://citl.indiana.edu/teaching-resources/diversity-inclusion/managing-difficult-classroom-discussions/index.html) (all accessed August 21, 2021).

13 See, for example, Chu (2014), McClough and Heinfeldt (2012), Luther (2014), and Moryl (2013).

14 https://audioecon.com/(accessed May 15, 2021).

15 See https://www.minneapolisfed.org/policy/racism-and-the-economy (accessed May 15, 2021).

16 See https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLXo7UDZvByw2ixzpQCufnA (accessed August 31, 2021).

17 https://teachingwithsuperstore.com, https://modernfamilyecon.com, http://econshark.com and, for example, Economics Media Library: Teaching Economics with Media at https://econ.video (all accessed May 15, 2021).

18 Authors’ calculations using unpublished AEA 2021–22 Universal Academic Questionnaire (UAQ) data. These data are based on the 346 institutions that responded to the survey and include ethnic representation for U.S. citizens and permanent residents only.

19 Primarily using teacher fixed effect models, researchers have found evidence that teacher-student racial concordance increases student performance from elementary through to community college. See, for example, Buddin and Zamarro (2009), Egalite, Kisida, and Winters (2015), Fairlie, Hoffmann and Oreopoulos (2014), Harbatkin (2021) and Ouazad (2014). Dee (2004) exploits the randomization of students to teachers in the Tennessee STAR program to get at causal identification. Mechanisms have yet to be unpacked. However, role modeling is one of the leading theories.

20 Outside of economics, Herrmann et al. (2016) find that encouraging letters from female graduate students increase female undergraduates’ grades in introductory psychology and chemistry.

21 See https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/1/d/e/2PACX-1vRpjrg8Fzh8yeEi72asUNZbvk5Hz4I0vDKPpo6bNAk16-T6Uen0Sr-Do8f-tkorqeVYGw3CuWM7DxOo/pubhtml (accessed May 17, 2021).

22 See https://econspeakerdiversity.shinyapps.io/EconSpeakerDiversity/(accessed May 17, 2021).