Improving introductory economics course content and delivery improves outcomes for women

References

• Ahlstrom, L. J., and C. J. Asarta. 2019. The gender gap in undergraduate economics course persistence and degree selection. AEA Papers and Proceedings 109(May): 255–60. doi: 10.1257/pandp.20191103.
   Google Scholar
• Anderson, G., D. Benjamin, and M. A. Fuss. 1994. The determinants of success in university introductory economics courses. Journal of Economic Education 25 (2): 99–119. doi: 10.1080/00220485.1994.10844820.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Arnold, I. J. M. 2020. Gender and major choice within economics: Evidence from Europe. International Review of Economics Education 35(November): 100191. doi: 10.1016/j.iree.2020.100191.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Asarta, C. J., R. G. Chambers, and C. Harter. 2021. Teaching methods in undergraduate introductory economics courses: Results from a sixth national quinquennial survey. The American Economist 66 (1): 18–28. doi: 10.1177/0569434520974658.
   Google Scholar
• Avilova, T., and C. Goldin. 2018. What can UWE do for economics? AEA Papers and Proceedings 108(May): 186–90. doi: 10.1257/pandp.20181103.
   Google Scholar
• Ballard, C., and M. Johnson. 2005. Gender, expectations, and grades in introductory microeconomics at a US university. Feminist Economics 11 (1): 95–122. doi: 10.1080/1354570042000332560.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Bayer, A., and D. W. Wilcox. 2019. The unequal distribution of economic education: A report on the race, ethnicity, and gender of economics majors at U.S. colleges and universities. Journal of Economic Education 50 (3): 299–320. doi: 10.1080/00220485.2019.1618766.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Bayer, Bayer, A.A., S. P. Bhanot, E. T. Bronchetti, and S. A. O’Connell. 2020. Diagnosing the learning environment for diverse students in introductory economics: An analysis of relevance, belonging, and growth mindsets. AEA Papers and Proceedings 110 (3): 294–98. doi: 10.1257/pandp.20201051.
   Google Scholar
• Bettinger, E. P., and B. T. Long. 2005. Do faculty serve as role models? The impact of instructor gender on female students. American Economic Review 95 (2): 152–57. doi: 10.1257/000282805774670149.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Borg, M. O., and H. Stranahan. 2002. The effect of gender and race on student performance in principles of economics: The importance of personality type. Applied Economics 34 (5): 589–98. doi: 10.1080/00036840110039249.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Buckles, K. 2019. Fixing the leaky pipeline: Strategies for making economics work for women at every stage. Journal of Economic Perspectives 33 (1): 43–60. doi: 10.1257/jep.33.1.43.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Carrell, S. E., M. E. Page, and J. E. West. 2010. Sex and science: How professor gender perpetuates the gender gap. Quarterly Journal of Economics 125 (3): 1101–44. doi: 10.1162/qjec.2010.125.3.1101.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Chi, M. T. H., and R. Wylie. 2014. The ICAP framework: Linking cognitive engagement to active learning outcomes. Educational Psychologist 49 (4): 219–43. doi: 10.1080/00461520.2014.965823.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• College Board. 2020. 2020 program summary report. New York: College Board.
   Google Scholar
• Conger, D. 2015. High school grades, admissions policies, and the gender gap in college enrollment. Economics of Education Review 46(June): 144–47. doi: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2015.03.003.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Di Tommaso, M. L., D. Contini, D. De Rosa, F. Ferrara, D. Piazzalunga, and O. Robutti. 2021. Tackling the gender gap in math with active learning teaching practices. IZA Discussion Paper No. 14572. Rochester, NY: SSRN-Elsevier.
   Google Scholar
• Espey, M. 2018. Diversity, effort, and cooperation in team-based learning. Journal of Economic Education 49 (1): 8–21. doi: 10.1080/00220485.2017.1397571.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Ferber, M. A. 1995. The study of economics: A feminist critique. American Economic Review 85 (2): 357–61.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Freeman, S., S. L. Eddy, M. McDonough, M. K. Smith, N. Okoroafor, H. Jordt, and M. P. Wenderoth. 2014. Active learning increases student performance in science, engineering, and mathematics. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 111 (23): 8410–15. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1319030111.
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Gartner, H. L., and A. Schneebaum. 2023. An analysis of women’s underrepresentation in undergraduate economics. Review of Political Economy 35 (3): 593–613. doi: 10.1080/09538259.2023.2183672.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Griffith, A. L. 2010. Persistence of women and minorities in STEM field majors: Is it the school that matters? Economics of Education Review 29 (6): 911–22. doi: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2010.06.010.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Henderson, C., and M. H. Dancy. 2007. Barriers to the use of research-based instructional strategies: The influence of both individual and situational characteristics. Physical Review Special Topics-Physics Education Research 3 (2): 020102.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Henderson,Henderson, C.C., N. Finkelstein, and A. Beach. 2010. Beyond dissemination in college science teaching: An introduction to four core change strategies. Journal of College Science Teaching 39 (5): 18–25.
   Google Scholar
• Heyne, P. 1995. Teaching introductory economics. Agenda 2 (2): 149–58.
   Google Scholar
• Hmelo-Silver, C. E. 2004. Problem-based learning: What and how do students learn? Educational Psychology Review 16 (3): 235–66. doi: 10.1023/B:EDPR.0000034022.16470.f3.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Inman, P. 2014. Economics students call for shakeup of the way their subject is taught. The Guardian, May. https://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/may/04/economics-students-overhaul-subject-teaching.
   Google Scholar
• Jakobsson, N. 2012. Gender and confidence: Are women underconfident? Applied Economics Letters 19 (11): 1057–59. doi: 10.1080/13504851.2011.613745.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Jensen, E. J., and A. L. Owen. 2001. Pedagogy, gender, and interest in economics. Journal of Economic Education 32 (4): 323–43. doi: 10.1080/00220480109596112.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Josephson, A., L. DeBoer, D. Nelson, and A. Zissimopoulos. 2019. Learning to do: Facilitating practice in a large introductory macroeconomics class. Journal of Economic Education 50 (2): 142–56. doi: 10.1080/00220485.2019.1582384.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Kirschner, F., F. Paas, and P. A. Kirschner. 2009. Individual and group-based learning from complex cognitive tasks: Effects on retention and transfer efficiency. Computers in Human Behavior 25 (2): 306–14. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2008.12.008.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Kugler, A. D., C. H. Tinsley, and O. Ukhaneva. 2021. Choice of majors: Are women really different from men? Economics of Education Review 81(April): 102079. doi: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2021.102079.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Lewis, S. E. 2011. Retention and reform: An evaluation of peer-led team learning. Journal of Chemical Education 88 (6): 703–7. doi: 10.1021/ed100689m.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Li, H.-H. 2018. Do mentoring, information, and nudge reduce the gender gap in economics majors? Economics of Education Review 64: 165–83. doi: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2018.04.004.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Lorenzo, M., C. H. Crouch, and E. Mazur. 2006. Reducing the gender gap in the physics classroom. American Journal of Physics 74 (2): 118–22. doi: 10.1119/1.2162549.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Lundberg, S. 2017. Report: Committee on the Status of Women in the Economics Profession (CSWEP). American Economic Review 107 (5): 759–76.
   Google Scholar
• Matz, R. L., B. P. Koester, S. Fiorini, G. Grom, L. Shepard, C. G. Stangor, B. Weiner, and T. A. McKay. 2017. Patterns of gendered performance differences in large introductory courses at five research universities. Aera Open 3 (4): 233285841774375. doi: 10.1177/2332858417743754.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Miller-Cotto, D., and C. Schunn. 2020. Mind the gap: How a large-scale course redesign in economics reduced performance gaps. Journal of Experimental Education 90 (4): 783–96. doi: 10.1080/00220973.2020.1805717.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• O’Dea, R. E., M. Lagisz, M. D. Jennions, and S. Nakagawa. 2018. Gender differences in individual variation in academic grades fail to fit expected patterns for STEM. Nature Communications 9 (1): 3777. doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-06292-0.
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Oudija, N. 2022. Economics is failing US college students. Rethinking Economics. https://www.rethinkeconomics.org/2022/10/18/econ-failing-us-students/.
   Google Scholar
• Owen, A. L., and P. Hagstrom. 2021. Broadening perceptions of economics in a new introductory economics sequence. Journal of Economic Education 52 (3): 175–91. doi: 10.1080/00220485.2021.1925189.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Porter, C., and D. Serra. 2020. Gender differences in the choice of major: The importance of female role models. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 12 (3): 226–54. doi: 10.1257/app.20180426.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Pugatch, T., and E. Schroeder. 2021. Promoting female interest in economics: Limits to nudges. AEA Papers and Proceedings 111(May): 123–27. doi: 10.1257/pandp.20211024.
   Google Scholar
• Pühringer, S., and L. Bäuerle. 2018. What economics education is missing: The real world. International Journal of Social Economics 46 (8): 977–91. doi: 10.1108/IJSE-04-2018-0221.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Reisz, M. 2016. Economics degrees still “too narrow in focus.” Times Higher Education, March 26.
   Google Scholar
• Rodriguez, I., G. Potvin, and L. H. Kramer. 2016. How gender and reformed introductory physics impacts student success in advanced physics courses and continuation in the physics major. Physical Review Physics Education Research 12 (2): 020118. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.12.020118.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Siegfried, J. J. 2010. Trends in undergraduate economics degrees, 1991–2009. Journal of Economic Education 41 (3): 326–30. doi: 10.1080/00220485.2010.486738.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Siegfried, J. J. 2020. Trends in undergraduate economics degrees, 2001–2019. Journal of Economic Education 51 (3–4): 359–63. doi: 10.1080/00220485.2020.1804510.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Springer, L., M. E. Stanne, and S. S. Donovan. 1999. Effects of small-group learning on undergraduates in science, mathematics, engineering, and technology: A meta-analysis. Review of Educational Research 69 (1): 21–51. doi: 10.3102/00346543069001021.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Thornton, T. 2020. The problem with the way economists are educated. Boston, MA: Boston University Global Development Policy Center, Economics in Context Initiative.
   Google Scholar
• U.S. Department of Education (ED). 2020. Digest of education statistics 2019. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.
   Google Scholar
• Walker, L., and A. M. Warfa. 2017. Process oriented guided inquiry learning (pogil®) marginally effects student achievement measures but substantially increases the odds of passing a course. PLoS One 12 (10): e0186203. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0186203.
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Wang, M., J. S. Eccles, and S. Kenny. 2013. Not lack of ability but more choice: Individual and gender differences in choice of careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Psychological Science 24 (5): 770–5. doi: 10.1177/0956797612458937.
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Werner, L., B. Hanks, C. McDowell, H. Bullock, and J. Fernald. 2005. Want to increase retention of your female students. Computing Research News 17 (2): 2.
   Google Scholar
• Wolfers, J. 2019. Economics isn’t dismal, it’s useful. New York Times, July 26.
   Google Scholar