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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

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    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/50393/1/MPRA_paper_50393.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. 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.
    2. 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.
    3. 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.
    4. 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.
    5. Philip Lewis & Keith Norris, 1997. "Recent Changes In Economics Enrolments," Economic Papers, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 16(1), pages 1-13, March.
    6. 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.
    7. Alex Millmow, 1995. "The Market For Economists In Australia," Economic Papers, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 14(4), pages 83-96, December.
    8. William E. Becker, 1997. "Teaching Economics to Undergraduates," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 35(3), pages 1347-1373, September.
    9. 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.
    10. 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.
    11. William E. Becker, 2000. "Teaching Economics in the 21st Century," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 14(1), pages 109-119, Winter.
    12. 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.
    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.
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    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.

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    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

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