IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/pra/mprapa/50393.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Causes and Implications of Declining Economics Major: A Focus on Australia

Author

Listed:
  • Alauddin, Mohammad
  • Valadkhani, Abbas

Abstract

This paper analyses the causes and implications of declining economics major in Australia. Based on a brief review of the relevant literature and an analysis of the Australian time series data, it is found that economics continues to be less attractive to students in relative terms. Three major factors contribute to this phenomenon: less than appropriate product for an increasingly diverse clientele, the introduction of more attractive and business, commerce and industry-oriented programs such as finance, accounting and commerce, and business majors geared to the needs of the real world, and the use of less experienced teaching staff in lower undergraduate courses. It is argued that stemming the tide against the economics discipline would require a significant rethink of development of products more vocational and real world-oriented, market segmentation for different clientele types, and marshalling of more experienced and capable teaching staff for lower undergraduate levels.

Suggested Citation

  • Alauddin, Mohammad & Valadkhani, Abbas, 2003. "Causes and Implications of Declining Economics Major: A Focus on Australia," MPRA Paper 50393, University Library of Munich, Germany.
  • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:50393
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/50393/1/MPRA_paper_50393.pdf
    File Function: original version
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. John J. Siegfried & David K. Round, 2001. "International Trends in Economics Degrees During the 1990s," The Journal of Economic Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(3), pages 203-218, January.
    2. Monica Keneley & Phil Hellier, 2001. "A Market Oriented Approach To Australian Undergraduate Economics Education: Justification And Explanation," Economic Papers, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 20(2), pages 81-94, June.
    3. Harry Bloch & Thorsten Stromback, 2002. "The Economics Of Strategy And The Strategy Of Economics," Economic Papers, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 21(1), pages 1-10, March.
    4. Siegfried, John J & Wilkinson, James T, 1982. "The Economics Curriculum in the United States: 1980," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 72(2), pages 125-138, May.
    5. William E. Becker, 1997. "Teaching Economics to Undergraduates," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 35(3), pages 1347-1373, September.
    6. Philip Lewis & Keith Norris, 1997. "Recent Changes In Economics Enrolments," Economic Papers, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 16(1), pages 1-13, March.
    7. T. Aldrich Finegan & John J. Siegfried, 1998. "Do Introductory Economics Students Learn More if Their Instructor Has a PH.D.?," The American Economist, Sage Publications, vol. 42(2), pages 34-46, October.
    8. Mohammad Alauddin & Clem Tisdell, 2000. "Changing Academic Environment And Teaching Of Economics At The University Level: Some Critical Issues Analysed With The Help Of Microeconomics," Economic Papers, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 19(1), pages 1-17, March.
    9. William E. Becker, 2000. "Teaching Economics in the 21st Century," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 14(1), pages 109-119, Winter.
    10. Alex Millmow, 2000. "The State We'Re In: University Economics 1989/1999," Economic Papers, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 19(4), pages 43-51, December.
    11. John J. Siegfried & David K. Round, 1994. "The Australian Undergraduate Economics Degree: Results from a Survey of Students," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 70(209), pages 192-203, June.
    12. Alex Millmow, 1995. "The Market For Economists In Australia," Economic Papers, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 14(4), pages 83-96, December.
    13. Paul Azzalini & Sandra Hopkins, 2002. "What Business Students Think Of Economics: Results From A Survey Of Second Year Students," Economic Papers, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 21(1), pages 11-17, March.
    14. John J. Siegfried, 1998. "Trends in Undergraduate Economics Degrees: A 1996--97 Update," The Journal of Economic Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(3), pages 285-288, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Don J. Webber & Andrew Mearman, 2012. "Students’ perceptions of economics: identifying demand for further study," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(9), pages 1121-1132, March.
    2. Dr. Mohammad Alauddin & Professor John Foster, 2005. "Heterogenous clientele and product differentiation: teaching economics in a changing environment," Discussion Papers Series 340, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia.
    3. John Marangos & Vasiliki Fourmouzi & Minoas Koukouritakis, 2013. "Factors that Determine the Decline in University Student Enrolments in Economics in Australia: An Empirical Investigation," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 89(285), pages 255-270, June.
    4. Ian Li & Andrew Williams & Ken Clements, 2023. "Labour Market Outcomes of Graduates in Economics in Australia," Economic Papers, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 42(3), pages 306-323, September.
    5. Dr. Mohammad Alauddin & Professor John Foster, 2005. "Teaching Economics at the University Level: Dynamics of Parameters and Implications," Discussion Papers Series 339, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dr. Mohammad Alauddin & Professor John Foster, 2005. "Heterogenous clientele and product differentiation: teaching economics in a changing environment," Discussion Papers Series 340, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia.
    2. Dr. Mohammad Alauddin & Professor John Foster, 2005. "Teaching Economics at the University Level: Dynamics of Parameters and Implications," Discussion Papers Series 339, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia.
    3. Andrew Worthington & Helen Higgs, 2003. "Factors explaining the choice of a finance major: the role of students' characteristics, personality and perceptions of the profession," Accounting Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(1), pages 1-21.
    4. Andrew C. Worthington & Helen Higgs, 2000. "Student Perceptions of the Profession and the Decision to Major in Economics," School of Economics and Finance Discussion Papers and Working Papers Series 085, School of Economics and Finance, Queensland University of Technology.
    5. Brad R. Humphreys & Joshua C. Hall & Hyunwoong Pyun, 2015. "An Inventory of Sports Economics Courses in the US," Working Papers 15-49, Department of Economics, West Virginia University.
    6. Mohammad Alauddin & Clem Tisdell, 2007. "Factors That Affect Teaching Scores in Economics Instruction: Analysis of Student Evaluation of Teaching (SET) Data," Discussion Papers Series 353, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia.
    7. Swee Liang Tan & Roy Ng, 2007. "A Hybrid Approach to Case Teaching," Working Papers 23-2007, Singapore Management University, School of Economics.
    8. KimMarie McGoldrick, 2010. "Advancing the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Economics," Chapters, in: Michael K. Salemi & William B. Walstad (ed.), Teaching Innovations in Economics, chapter 3, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    9. Woltjer, G.B., 2004. "Crude oil: using a large case to teach introductory economics," Research Memorandum 014, Maastricht University, Maastricht Research School of Economics of Technology and Organization (METEOR).
    10. Costas Siriopoulos & Gerasimos Pomonis, 2009. "Selecting Strategies to Foster Economists' Critical Thinking Skills: A Quantile Regression Approach," International Review of Economic Education, Economics Network, University of Bristol, vol. 8(1), pages 106-131.
    11. Mohammad Alauddin & Temesgen Kifle, 2014. "Does the student evaluation of teaching instrument really measure instructorsù teaching effectiveness? An econometric analysis of studentsù perceptions in economics courses," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(2), pages 156-168.
    12. Michael K. Salemi, 2003. "A Model Teacher-Education Program for Economics," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(2), pages 455-459, May.
    13. Dean Garratt & Rebecca Taylor, 2004. "Issue-based teaching in economics," Working Papers 2004/2, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham Business School, Economics Division.
    14. John J. Siegfried, 2011. "The Economics Major in the United States," Chapters, in: Gail M. Hoyt & KimMarie McGoldrick (ed.), International Handbook on Teaching and Learning Economics, chapter 68, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    15. Tiffany Hutcheson & Harry Tse, 2004. "Learning by Students at University," Working Paper Series 136, Finance Discipline Group, UTS Business School, University of Technology, Sydney.
    16. Nilss Olekalns, 2002. "The Teaching of First Year Economics in Australian Universities," Department of Economics - Working Papers Series 848, The University of Melbourne.
    17. Patricia M. Flynn & Michael A. Quinn, 2010. "Economics: Good Choice of Major for Future Ceos," The American Economist, Sage Publications, vol. 55(1), pages 58-72, May.
    18. van de Laar, M.M. & de Neubourg, C.R.J., 2004. "Emotions and foreign direct investment: a theoretical and emperical exploration," Research Memorandum 013, Maastricht University, Maastricht Research School of Economics of Technology and Organization (METEOR).
    19. Bruce M. Skoorka & Carol M. Condon, 2002. "Factors Underlying Trends in Economics Majors: A Cause for Concern?," The American Economist, Sage Publications, vol. 46(2), pages 54-64, October.
    20. Tang, Tommy, 2023. "Approach to learning for assessment in economics," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 571-584.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Economics discipline; Australia; Universities;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • A2 - General Economics and Teaching - - Economic Education and Teaching of Economics

    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:pra:mprapa:50393. 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.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with 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: Joachim Winter (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/vfmunde.html .

    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.