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Promoting Female Interest in Economics: Limits to Nudges

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  • Pugatch, Todd

    (Oregon State University)

  • Schroeder, Elizabeth

    (Oregon State University)

Abstract

Why is the proportion of women who study Economics so low? This study assesses whether students respond to messages about majoring in Economics, and whether this response varies by student gender. We conducted an experiment among more than 2,000 students enrolled in Economics Principles courses, with interventions proceeding in two phases. In the first phase, randomly assigned students received a message with basic information about the Economics major, or the basic message combined with an emphasis on the rewarding careers or financial returns associated with the major. A control group received no such messages. In the second phase, all students receiving a grade of B- or better received a message after the course ended encouraging them to major in Economics. For a randomly chosen subset of these students, the message also encouraged them to persist in Economics even if their grade was disappointing. The basic message increased the proportion of male students majoring in Economics by 2 percentage points, equivalent to the control mean. We find no significant effects for female students. Extrapolating to the full sample, the basic message would nearly double the male/female ratio among Economics majors. Our results suggest the limits of light-touch interventions to promote diversity in Economics.

Suggested Citation

  • Pugatch, Todd & Schroeder, Elizabeth, 2020. "Promoting Female Interest in Economics: Limits to Nudges," IZA Discussion Papers 13489, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp13489
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    Cited by:

    1. Pugatch, Todd & Wilson, Nicholas, 2020. "Nudging Demand for Academic Support Services: Experimental and Structural Evidence from Higher Education," GLO Discussion Paper Series 675, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
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    3. Kristin F. Butcher & Patrick McEwan & Akila Weerapana, 2023. "Women's Colleges and Economics Major Choice: Evidence from Wellesley College Applicants," Working Paper Series WP 2023-21, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
    4. Rebecca Cassells & Leonora Risse & Danielle Wood & Duygu Yengin, 2023. "Lifting Diversity and Inclusion in Economics: How the Australian Women in Economics Network Put the Evidence into Action," Economic Papers, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 42(1), pages 1-29, March.
    5. Graziella Bertocchi & Luca Bonacini & Marina Murat, 2021. "Adams and Eves: The Gender Gap in Economics Majors," EIEF Working Papers Series 2115, Einaudi Institute for Economics and Finance (EIEF), revised Dec 2021.
    6. Graziella Bertocchi & Luca Bonacini & Marina Murat, 2021. "Adams and Eves: The Gender Gap in Economics Majors," Department of Economics 0196, University of Modena and Reggio E., Faculty of Economics "Marco Biagi".
    7. Delaney, Judith M. & Devereux, Paul J., 2021. "Gender and Educational Achievement: Stylized Facts and Causal Evidence," IZA Discussion Papers 14074, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Graziella Bertocchi & Luca Bonacini & Marina Murat, 2023. "Adams and Eves: High school math and the gender gap in Economics majors," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 61(4), pages 798-817, October.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    randomized control trial; nudges; higher education; gender gap in economics; college major choice;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions

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