Inclusive Economics
The Problem with Econ Ed
Economic education has been under scrutiny lately. As a profession, we have shifted towards abstract mathematical modeling and lost our ability to communicate the real world implications of our findings. In doing so, we have lost our place as the study that influences change and helps design policy. We have lost the public’s trust.
Economic education and educators need to invest in making the study relevant to our students. We need to communicate the importance of economics to their personal lives and how they can influence change in their own communities.
My academic career has focused on making economics relevant to a diverse group of students. I worry that if economics is only relevant to a subset of the population, then the policies we design and the problems we evaluate will not reflect the issues we face as a society.
Collaborating with Pearson
A couple of years ago, I started a partnership with Pearson to develop a series of videos that helped shed light on the importance of understanding the diverse applications of economics and some gaps that arise in our analysis if we do not consider the implications of our models . Pearson reached out to me because of my expertise in economic education, my love for video as an educational tool, and my efforts to engage students via YouTube. Being an Economic Education YouTuber paid off!
The video series is available through Pearson’s MyLab pre-built courses with formative assessment built into the assignments. Contact me if you are interested in learning more and I can help you get started.
Missing Women
Here is a glimpse into one of the videos discussing the Care Economy and how measurements of GDP will miss this important sector. A sector that is heavily dominated by women and ignoring it, ignores their contribution to society. Watch the video and share it with friends. More views of the video will help signal that this is valuable information and Pearson made the right choice by working with me.
The Inclusive Economics Video Series contains 27 videos featuring a mix of original and licensed content to support a variety of teaching purposes. These insightful videos are tied to auto-graded assessment questions to support critical thinking. They focus on some of the most important social and economic challenges of our time.
Economics Needs More Socioeconomic Diversity
From the Harvard Business Review-
“Another possible factor is the content of introductory undergraduate economics courses. With its emphasis on production functions and indifference curves, as well as on aggregate outcomes over inequality, Economics 101 can often feel over-stylized and unrealistic, somewhat removed from the issues that may be particularly important to students from less-privileged backgrounds. Doing a better job reflecting the breadth and depth of the issues that economists actually study in introductory economics courses can help increase interest in the subject from students from less socioeconomically advantaged backgrounds.”
Did you hear me on Marketplace Radio Last Night?
It is always great to be asked to comment on economic news on Marketplace Radio. I remember listening to economic news and radio shows while doing my undergraduate work. I remember how much I admired the economists and experts sharing their views. It is an honor to be one of the experts today and to be trusted by the news to share my views on the economy. You can listen to the show below.