The Miscellany News

This Women’s History Month, I urge more women to take economics classes. For those who had a bad experience in “Introduction to Economics,” please do not stop reading this piece, because I had a bad experience, too. Now, as an economics minor, I am still convinced that the discipline needs to better reflect real-world conditions and diversify. 

First, the problem: I have noticed that my economics courses are overwhelmingly male-dominated and taken largely by economics majors. In contrast, there are more students of all genders and majors in my other social science classes. This is not only my experience. According to The Economist, there are nearly three male economists per every one female economist.

I advocate for more heterodox (non-orthodox) economics, to encourage more women to take economics. Heterodox economics, in contrast to mainstream, neoclassical economics, helps to better explain the real world through an interdisciplinary and critical lens. According to the International Monetary Fund, women already tend to think more outside the market, advocating for more government intervention and environmental action than men on average. Especially at Vassar, a historically women’s and liberal arts college, the value of interdisciplinary learning for women is widely acknowledged and encouraged. For interdisciplinary learning in economics to be institutionally supported, teaching heterodox economics is a good starting point. 

I spoke with Taylor Gee ’23, one of the first economics majors I met, who now works in an economics-adjacent field. She had an interesting idea on how to make economics more interdisciplinary: co-taught courses, cross-listed between departments. For example: offering economics courses like “Chinese Economics” taught by an economics and Asian Studies professor, or “Behavioral Economics” with an economics and psychology professor. I think this model would allow both economics and non-economics students to benefit and enjoy classes across disciplines. Still, Gee reminded me that the main barrier to entry for interesting economics electives is often “Introduction to Economics,” the hardest economics course she took, barring students who would otherwise be interested in cross-listed economics classes.

I think this model could be powerful to combat widespread hatred among Vassar students, myself included, for “Introduction to Economics.” “Introduction to Urban Studies,” for instance, invites several professors from various disciplines to deliver guest lectures so students may be exposed to a variety of topics at the same time as most students are deciding their majors. If “Introduction to Economics” followed a similar model, having professors guest lecture from a variety of disciplines within and beyond economics, I think more students would take economics courses, beyond simply checking off their quantitative course requirement. According to the Chicago Booth Review, getting insight across the field and meeting several professors would be especially impactful for female students who tend to leave the field if they lack support at the introductory level, more than men. For Gee also, it was taking “Gender Issues in Economics” and seeing further applications of economics that encouraged her to give economics a second chance after the introductory course.

But this more factual advocacy approach, while important, puts the onus on the institution to make changes in order for students to benefit, which can result in forced, short-term fixes. I strongly believe that students have the power to shape their college experience. By extension, women who take economics classes can change the course and field itself, forcing it to be more inclusive and interdisciplinary. 

Vassar students already deeply care about economic issues. As News Editor last semester, I interviewed student activists at the forefront of the gender pay lawsuit, divestment and labor organizing. Their efforts are inspiring and demonstrate how students can change the institutions they exist in, given concentrated time and energy. I think if more of these students, especially women, were encouraged to be in my economics classes, the material would be more grounded in reality, benefiting both students’ interest and the class environment. Some of the biggest, redefining forces in economics today are credited to radical women economists. For students to give economics a second chance, it requires both institutional support and a community of engaged, diverse students.

For me, economics was the first discipline in my college experience that taught me problem-solving techniques. By extension, I urge us to solve the problems of economics by using its very own tools; occupy its space in order to shape it. This student-led change-making not only helps us understand real world economics with more nuance, but instructs students on how to occupy unfamiliar spaces to make change from within. 

To others debating whether to take economics, I am going to refute myself and not tell you outright to take economics. Rather, invest in mentors and friends who can help you work through what economics is and how you can make it your own. Especially in male-dominated spaces, female friendship can be radical. 

Lastly, I express my gratitude to my economics classes. People say that an economics degree is a practical degree for getting a job, but in my experience taking just one course is a practical lesson in how to operate professionally: how to ask for help, how to build networks that sustain you, how to take up space. Gee even credits her economics major for her current advocacy for pay transparency. 

Author Annie Dillard said, “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.” Likewise, the perseverance and friendships I build in my economics courses are not just valuable in college, but life-long lessons in prioritizing my wellbeing. While this is not necessarily encouraging for women entering the field, I think it helps to make the struggle and pursuit meaningful. I would like to offer this same grace to economics. Economics is not sufficient to understand the way the world works, but it is working through it with others and across disciplines that can be improved for the better and for us all.