亚色影库 the MCDE
The field of economics suffers from an underrepresentation of women and minorities that exceeds the more widely publicized underrepresentation in STEM fields. In Minnesota, 31% of economics students are women, and 12% are U.S.-born people of color (only 4% are U.S.-born women of color). Even more concerning, while STEM fields have seen improvement in representation over time, economics has not (Bayer & Rouse 2016, CSWEP 2018).
The Minnesota Center for Diversity in Economics (MCDE) ensures that people of all backgrounds lead and influence economic research and decision-making. The MCDE promotes and supports gender and racial diversity in economics at every educational and career pipeline stage.
The MCDE was recently featured on J-PAL's three part Diversifying Economics blog post.
Read all about it here:
MCDE Initiatives
Design, implement, and study interventions targeted at women ages 16鈥20.
Recent research out of Swarthmore (Bayer, Bhanot & Lozano 2018) shows that low-cost information/email nudges can make a big difference in attracting and retaining women to the field of economics. The MCDE leads in efforts to implement this sort of outreach in Minnesota.
Engage women and underrepresented students in research.
Collaborative undergraduate research is a best practice for recruiting and retaining underrepresented students to economics. The MCDE provides research assistantships that study various issues of interest to the faculty and students who work with the Center.
Target teacher professional development.
Research shows that teachers pass math anxiety to their students akin to passing a virus. This relationship is particularly strong for female teachers and female students (Beilock, Gunderson, Ramirez & Levine 2010, Ramirez 2018). The same mechanism is likely at work in economics. K-12 teachers need to feel confident in their economic and personal finance knowledge and the Minnesota Council on Economic Education (with whom the MCDE is affiliated) is the only organization in the state focused on this key mechanism.
Forge partnerships with local/regional stakeholders.
The MCDE connects a range of stakeholders from the public and private sectors who are working to improve representation in economics and personal finance. By promoting opportunities to network and share across groups, the MCDE works to ensure that Minnesota鈥檚 students and teachers have access to the best possible set of resources.
MCDE Research
Abstract
Women and Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) are underrepresented in economics. Among the factors contributing to the underrepresentation of these groups, past research has demonstrated a lack of diversity in introductory economics textbooks. We extend this research on representation to examples in economics lesson plans designed for K-12 audiences. We find that women and BIPOC examples are underrepresented. When present they are less likely to be economists, policymakers, or businesspeople. We also explore how author demographics predict the diversity of examples. Authors and teams that include women are more likely to use female examples.
Abstract
The underrepresentation of minority students and women in economics exceeds that of STEM fields, and while STEM fields have improved representation over time, economics has made less progress. Past research has established that under-represented minority and women students have significantly lower relevance, belonging, and growth mindset (RBG) in predominantly white institutions (PWIs) and co-ed settings (Bayer, Bhanot, Bronchetti, & O鈥機onnell, 2020). Lower RBG is linked to worse grades and lower persistence in economics majors. There has been no research to date on RBG at minority-serving institutions (MSIs) or women鈥檚 colleges, nor on whether these identity-affirming institutions may foster RBG and persistence. This paper investigates RBG's role as a potential barrier or lever for change across different institutional settings. We find that minority students had significantly lower overall RBG ratings, as well as for each dimension of RBG. Female students did not have a significant difference in
overall RBG compared to male/non-binary students. Women did, however, have significantly higher relevance than their counterparts. These differences may be because students at women鈥檚 colleges, which we over-sampled, have significantly higher relevance than co-ed colleges. There is also some evidence that women have lower economics growth mindset, but that women鈥檚 colleges are associated with higher growth mindset in economics.
Abstract
Female and minority students are underrepresented in economics. This paper uses longitudinal data to explore students鈥 persistence and mindsets towards economics, and how they evolve over time. Analyses compare female and male/non-binary students, as well as minority-identifying and non-minority students, along with the potential role of identity-focused institutions (women鈥檚 colleges and minority-serving institutions) in shaping persistence in economics. Plans to persist in economics diminished over time, although less so for female students than male students and less so for minority students than non-minority students. Women鈥檚 colleges and MSIs did not lead to significantly different changes in persistence. Nor did changes in mindsets predict changes in persistence, although baseline mindset did predict baseline persistence.
Abstract
This research describes a "Data Fest" approach that combines big data and social issues with a collaborative and community-engaged event. In this paper, we describe Data Fest and present quantitative and qualitative analyses from three years of pre- and post-surveys of Data Fest events. Changes from pre- to post-survey suggest Data Fest led students to build both economic analysis skills and their sense of relevance, belonging, growth mindset, and confidence. Student narratives illustrate the importance of a fun and supportive environment as well as the accountability to a community stakeholder as motivating their success and progress.
C-FEM: Cross Generational Female Economist Mentorship Program
An innovative mentorship program that connects female and non-binary/gender non-conforming economists at various stages in the economics education & career pipeline! Mentorship teams consist of members from each of the following groups: High school students, Introductory Economics college students, Economics majors, and Alumni. C-FEM participants will explore different economics topics and career options & will earn a certificate for each subject they master, drawing on their mentorship teams for support along the way.
We focus on recruiting girls/non-binary students and women of color, whose inclusion is desperately lacking in economics.
Interested in Becoming a Mentor or a Mentee? Please email MCDE@stkate.edu
Mentorship Collaboration Highlight
Libby Kula, Mentor (pictured left), Calyn Schardt, Student (pictured right)
MCDE Events
Data Fest
Data Fest is a modeled 鈥淗ack-a-thon鈥 event that invites students from all academic backgrounds to work in groups to answer important socio-economic questions in collaboration with community partners. In past events, we鈥檝e partnered with community organizations such as the Center for Indian Country Development and Ramsey County, using datasets from IPUMS and Opportunity Atlas. This is an opportunity for students to explore analyzing data and a chance to learn more about R and Stata software coding in a hands-on environment with peers.
We hold two separate Data Fest events in February and May, giving participants the opportunity to use more of the skills they have gained in their courses. Students, faculty, staff, and alumni are welcome to join us! If you are interested, please look forward to more information coming in February.
NSF Funded Research Project - Relevance, Belonging and Growth Mindset (RBG) Mini Conference
A collaborative research team from 亚色影库 and Metropolitan State University hosted a one-day mini-conference presenting and discussing results. The conference included networking, sharing of experiences, and capacity building to encourage future research and teaching collaboration. Anyone interested in the RBG research is encouraged to read the two working papers and download the anonymized data.
Past Events
- PBK Visiting Scholar: Dr. Trevon Logan Public Lecture, September 18, 2023
- October 3rd, 2022
Gender Gaps and Social Norms - September 22nd, 2022
Program Evaluation and Design - April 27th, 2022
- April 21st, 2022
- April 13th, 2022
Inclusive development, project evaluation, and the connection between micro and macro policies - April 5th, 2022
- March 15th, 2022
Collective Bargaining Rights, Policing, and Civilian Deaths - March 9th, 2022
- March 8th, 2022
- February 18th, 2022
The Impact of Equity Premiums on the Completion Outcomes of Minority Students - February 16, 2022
- February 3, 2022
- November 17, 2021
- November 12, 2021
- October 26, 2021
- October 21, 2021
- June 28, 2021
- May 05, 2021
- April 19, 2021
- March 03, 2021
- February 05, 2021
- January 25, 2021
- December 1, 2020
- November 10, 2020
- October 15, 2020
Building Credit as a Muslim American- September 15, 2020
- August 14, 2020
- July 23, 2020
鈥 June 29, 2020
鈥 June 11, 2020
鈥 May 13, 2020
鈥 April 17, 2020
More on Diversity in the Field of Economics
K-10 Education
by Silvia Angerer, Jana Bolvashenkova, Daniela Gl盲tzle-R眉tzler, Philipp Lergetporer, and Matthias Sutter
- Population of focus: Children
- Topic: School track choice
" by Sian L. Beilock, Elizabeth A. Gunderson, Gerardo Ramirez, and Susan C. Levine; PNAS, 2010
- Main takeaway: Math fear is contagious, and math is how many economics courses frame the discipline.
- Population of focus: women
- Topic: math anxiety
by Reardon, Sean F., and Claudia Galindo, American Educational Research Journal, 2009
- Population of focus: Hispanics
- Topic: Test-score gap
by Craig, Will, and Scott, Tom, University of Minnesota: Center for Urban and Regional Affairs, 2018
- Population of focus: Black students
- Topic: Test-score gap
High School
"" by Carycruz Bueno; SSRN, 2020
- Population of focus: High school students
- Topic: Virtual schooling
鈥鈥 by Lochner, L., & Moretti, E; American Economic Review, 2004.
- Population of focus: High school students
- Topic: Education and criminal system
by Dania V. Francis, Angela C. M. de Oliveira, & Dimmitt Carey; The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, 2019
- Population of focus: Black female students
- Topic: Race & gender bias
L. Dahlbom, A. Jakobsson, & A. Kotsadam; Applied Economics Letters, 2011
- Population of focus: Women
- Topic: Confidence
Scott Delhommer (Job Market Paper)
- Population of focus: URM, Hispanic, Asian
- Topic: Role Model effect on college outcomes
B. Stevenson & H. Zlotnik; AEA Papers and Proceedings, 2018
- Population of focus: Women
- Topic: gender representation
College
""Todd Pugatch, Elizabeth Schroeder; Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), 2020
- Population of focus: women
- Topic: Major
Valentina A. Paredes, M. Daniele Paserman, Francisco Pino; NBER Working Paper Series, 2020
- Population of focus: Women
- Topic: Sexism
Robert W. Fairlie, Florian Hoffmann, Philip Oreopoulos; NBER Working Paper Series
- Population of focus: Underrepresented Minorities (URM)
- Topic: Role model effect
Amanda Bayer, David W. Wilcox; The Journal of Economic Education, 2019
- Population of focus: URM, gender
- Topic: Major
Catherine Porter and Danila Serra; American Economic Journal, 2019
- Population of focus: Women
- Topic: Major
Amanda Bayer, Syon P. Bhanot, Fernando Lozano; AEA Papers and Proceedings, 2019
- Population of focus: Women, URM
- Topic: Information
, Amanda Bayer and Cecilia Elena Rouse; Journal of Economic Perspectives, 2016
- Population of focus: Women, URM
Graduate School
, Charles L. Betsey; The Review of Black Political Economy, 2019
- Population of focus: African Americans
Leah Boustan, Andrew Langan; Journal of Economic Perspectives, 2019
- Population of focus: Women
- Topic: Qualitative evidence of women's success
Thomas D. Jeitschko; AEA Papers and Proceedings, 2019
Career
"" William Lazonick, Philip Moss, and Joshua Weitz; Institute for New Economic Thinking, 2020
- Population of focus: African American
- Topic: Employment
"" Lisa Cook and Jan Gerson; equitable growth, 2019
- Population of focus: People of color
- Topics: Economic inequality
"" Amanda Bayer, Gary A. Hoover, and Ebonya Washington; Journal of Economic Perspectives, 2020
- Population of focus: People of color
- Topics: Academia
Maryann Reid; Forbes
- Population of focus: Black women
- Topic: Discrimination, structural violence
Lisa D. Cook and Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman, New York Times
- Population of focus: Black women
- Topic: Discrimination
Alice H. Wu, 2017
- Population of focus: Women
- Topic: Stereotyping
Zarrina H. Juraqulova, Jill J. McCluskey, Ron C. Mittelhammer.; Industrial Relations Journal, 2019
- Population of focus: Women
- Topic: Work-life policies
Najmah Thomas; Journal of Public Affairs Education, 2019
- Population of focus: African American women
- Topic: Academia
Price, Gregory N; Journal of Socio-Economics, 2009
- Population of focus: Black economists
Anne Boring, Kellie Ottoboni, and Philip B. Stark; Science Open Research, 2016
- Population of focus: Women
- Topic: Bias in student surveys, academia
Gregory N. Price; The Review of Black Political Economy, 2019
- Population of focus: Black economists
- Topic: Academia
The LGBTQ Economics Working Group; Newsletter of the American Economic Association
- Population of focus: LGBTQIA+
John Cawley; IZA Institute of Labor Economics, 2016
- Topic: Academia
Mario L. Small and Devah Pager; The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 2020
- Topic: Racial discrimination, institutional discrimination
Thomas Carroll, Djeto Assane, and Jared Busker; The Journal of Economic Education, 2014
- Topic: Salary
Susan Offutt and Jill McCluskey; Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, 2021
- Population of Focus: Women
- Topic: Agriculture
Ver贸nica Amarante, Ronelle Burger, Grieve Chelwa, John Cockburn, Ana Kassouf, Andrew McKay & Julieta Zurbrigg; Applied Economics Letters, 2021
- Population of Focus: Researchers
- Topic: Development Studies
