IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ireced/v52y2026ics1477388026000095.html

Programming and the economics curriculum: Evidence from undergraduate student attitudes

Author

Listed:
  • Hashimzade, Nigar
  • Kirsanov, Oleg
  • Kirsanova, Tatiana

Abstract

A significant and growing proportion of graduate economics job advertisements in the UK and other countries mentions programming skills. Do undergraduates see that shift, and do they want their degree programme to keep pace? We answer these questions with the first multi-year survey of student attitudes towards programming, administered to 317 economics majors in Years 2–4 at a UK university. The support for curricular integration is overwhelming: 92% favours adding programming and 55% favour making it mandatory. Further analysis shows that support for a compulsory course is strongest among final-year and international students, while the preference for earlier programming exposure is the highest among those still uncertain about their career plans. Confidence in programming skills remains low even in the final year, and students regard generic computer science modules as poor substitutes for economics-focused instruction. Taken together, the survey results strongly suggest that in undergraduate economics programming should be introduced early on and that it should be embedded in discipline-specific content. Moreover, its teaching should be supported throughout the economics curriculum to meet the students’ demand, enhance their employability, and close the skill gaps before they become entrenched.

Suggested Citation

  • Hashimzade, Nigar & Kirsanov, Oleg & Kirsanova, Tatiana, 2026. "Programming and the economics curriculum: Evidence from undergraduate student attitudes," International Review of Economics Education, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ireced:v:52:y:2026:i:c:s1477388026000095
    DOI: 10.1016/j.iree.2026.100347
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1477388026000095
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.iree.2026.100347?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • A22 - General Economics and Teaching - - Economic Education and Teaching of Economics - - - Undergraduate
    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ireced:v:52:y:2026:i:c:s1477388026000095. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/international-review-of-economics-education .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.